


Love Me Insane

by PyroQueenOfFire



Category: iZombie (TV)
Genre: Also Chase Graves deserved better, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Definitely a lot of tropes in here, F/M, Graphic Description of Corpses, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Mild Language, Multi, Sexual Content, kinky zombie smut, lots of smut, there i said it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-04-23 05:53:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 28,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19144882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PyroQueenOfFire/pseuds/PyroQueenOfFire
Summary: Vanessa Corsac and Claire Fairfax, are just as immersed in this Zombie vs Human debacle as everyone else. When one of them admits to being the ex of Chase Graves himself, and the other thinks about taking the cure to be with Ravi...everyone's worlds turn upside down. Add in that now everyone has to figure out how to live in New Seattle, and it's a hot mess. Who will survive? Will love prevail? Is it all just sex, blood and chaos?





	1. Vanessa and Claire

**Based on the Show with twists and turns. All of the characters will have their backstory explained, etc., but I’m jumping right in with them. Mostly this story focuses on the Chase/OC love story, but the Ravi/OC love story is also important to it. Also, this story is going to have Blaine/Peyton and Liv/Major, as well as Clive/Dale mentions, just because those are the ships I ship the most.**

**I only own Nessie and Claire, and the other OCs that I introduce and mention. Also, this story is ‘Explicit’ for all sorts of reasons, but smut is really the main reason. Deaths are a little graphic, but I’ll do a warning before each chapter of the ‘Explicit’ content it might contain just so you guys are warned because everyone has different triggers.**

**That being said: there is sexual content in this chapter.**

xxxxx 

“Wait, but...how does it affect your research?” Claire Fairfax asked her best friend, Vanessa “Nessie” Corsac.

Nessie sighed and looked up from her microscope. “Look, we don’t talk about Chase. That was one of the things I told you at the beginning that I didn’t want to talk about.”

“You mean when we met, and you found out I was a Zombie, and we started talking and you didn’t want to talk about your ex? Oh…” Claire finished, the realization hitting her.

Before Zombies were out in the open, Nessie had run into blood work that hadn’t made any sense to her. She was a scientist, who had relocated to Seattle because she was getting out of a weird relationship. No, not weird: a _great_ relationship. Or so she had thought. They had met while he was on leave, and while most thought it was too fast, they just _understood_ each other. Long distance didn’t seem like a bad thing--they video called as much as they could--but suddenly he was saying he couldn’t do it anymore, and she was heartbroken.

Only to see him again, and _know_ that something was wrong.

It wasn’t until she had found out about Zombies that she really had something to keep her mind off of this guy she still very much loved, and then they’d seen each other again...in Seattle. She had been with Ravi, both of them comparing Zombie research, when she had seen Vivian. As the ex-girlfriend, Nessie had been introduced to Harrison, Chase’s older brother, and in turn to Harrison’s wife, Vivian. When Vivian had come into Seattle as a Zombie herself, she had accidentally told Nessie the hotel that Chase was in and she’d gone to see him...and they almost hooked up...but Chase was _also_ a Zombie.

Since then, Nessie had been avoiding the whole thing, lost in research with Ravi, and in spending time with Claire. Claire had a whole other story, having been turned into a Zombie through sex by some Zombie that didn’t care that he hadn’t _told_ her he was a Zombie. At first, Claire had been pretty angry about it, especially when he wasn’t remorseful, but the hate sex had been kind of nice...then he got killed and she didn’t really care much. It bothered her a little that she hadn’t cared, but by then she’d met Nessie and that was a highlight in her life because she was the first person to know what she was almost right off the bat, and not be _freaked out_ about it. Then again, she’d learned that her almost brother-in-law had been a zombie too, so she just wasn’t worried about zombies as a...were they a species?

“So, if I want to learn more about this guy that my _best friend_ is still in love with, I have to go ask him myself? I don’t know, Ness. I don’t really want to go into Fillmore-Graves. Also, that is still the funniest pun.” Claire chuckled, sighing when Nessie sent her a look.

Nessie just wasn’t amused--thinking about Chase made her feel physical pain. “Look, I thought at some point that we were going to get married, and settle down, and have kids, but he ended things. Then we almost hooked up before Vivian died, and he dropped this huge bomb on me that he was a Zombie. He...I can’t, Claire. I just can’t.”

Claire nodded, wishing that she’d known the whole story there, but she supposed that Nessie would take it to her grave, so she _would_ have to go and see Chase about it. She just wanted to know, because before Chase had shown up in Seattle, Nessie had seemed so carefree, even if she blew off guys that asked her out. All Claire had ever gotten when she had asked, was that Nessie wasn’t over her ex, and if they were going to be friends, Claire shouldn’t push her to talk about it, because it was painful to recall. Claire was going to respect that, but she also wanted to know, and she had never promised not to ask Chase directly.

On Claire’s romantic front, she’d had a thing for Ravi, even knowing that he and Peyton had been kind of on again and off again. It wasn’t like she could sleep with him either, because he was human, and she wasn’t going to pass that to him. Not when that was how she had been turned...but a cure would be nice. She wanted to be with him, but he deserved a normal, human girl--and not Peyton. Peyton and Ravi had so many issues with treating each other with respect and honestly? Claire could tell that Peyton and Blaine _had something_.

“Fine, forget I said anything, but on _my_ front...do you still have that cure you smuggled?” Claire asked her friend.

Nodding, Nessie took a deep breath. “Yeah, I do. I told you that I was going to keep it for you. Do I feel a little bad about it? Sure, but you’re my best friend and I know that you never asked for this life. I also...don’t have Liv’s moral compass, so…”

Claire smiled a little, knowing that Nessie wouldn’t let _anyone_ get in the way of the cure being given to Claire if she ever wanted it. Not even some other ‘innocent’. As far as Claire and Nessie had been concerned, they were each other’s family, and the only reason Nessie wasn’t sure about being a Zombie right now to be with Chase, was because she had always thought that some day she’d be a mother. There was always adoption, but right now she and Chase weren’t even speaking to each other.

When Claire opened up her mouth to ask another question that was cure related because she’d been thinking about Ravi a lot, but not wanting the amnesia that Blaine had, both women looked up to see Ravi coming into the lab. He and Nessie were working on more cure stuff, and even though she blushed, and Ravi smiled at her, she excused herself. Ravi watched her go, catching her looking back and then hurriedly leaving, Nessie smirking a little when she watched him watch her leave. He had a crush on her, but he was still hung up on Peyton, and Nessie wasn’t about to let him hurt her pseudo sister. It made her feel better to know there were feelings on both sides, but Ravi needed to prove himself here.

“Stop watching Claire’s ass when she leaves, and come look at this sample,” Nessie told him, laughing when he blushed and started immediately denying he was doing exactly that. “Just look at the sample, Ravi.

He sighed, moving over to the microscope. “I need you to know I wasn’t looking at her ass.”

“You were,” Nessie pointed out. “I want you to tell me what you see there though.”

“This looks like a dead embryo,” Ravi told her, tilting his head to the side. “What are you working on, Vanessa?”

“I was trying to see if I could make a human/zombie hybrid. I’m not sure that I can,” Nessie responded, taking a deep breath.

Ravi raised his eyebrows at her, trying to figure out why she even cared, but then it dawned on him: this could help with the cure. If they could find a way to make it so that the two species could merge into something viably _living_ , then they could use _that dna_ to make a cure, and not have to rely on the tainted Utopium, given there was like almost none of it.

“I realized that it would only work with a male Zombie and a female human since a human female would have to carry it, but...there’s not much I can test without people who volunteer their goods,” Nessie explained, blushing a little when Ravi gave her a look. “What?”

Ravi stood up straight. “Who volunteered this one?”

“That is the fifth one, actually, and they all failed,” Nessie responded, moving away from him to put things away, sighing when Ravi asked the question again. “My eggs, Blaine’s sperm.”

“WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!” Ravi asked her suddenly, sounding the most scandalized she thought she’d ever heard him.

Sighing, Nessie turned to look at him. “It was before you gave Blaine the cure. He and I see each other every once in a while. Flirted before the Peyton thing. He knows I’m in cahoots with you, even though I really don’t talk to Liv much because I have my own lab to work in, I don’t need the Morgue. But, uh...I was out drinking with Claire and he was there, and I was wasted, and I mentioned that I had thought about the whole, Zombie-ism and sex thing, and how maybe in a controlled environment, if the egg was living, could it be fertilized? But no. The Zombie sperm hits the egg and zombifies it too, so it dies.”

Ravi nodded at that, but it really didn’t answer the initial question of why in the world she would ever take Blaine’s sperm willingly. Not only that, but had it actually worked, there would be a hybrid embryo that would eventually be a child that she would have to share with _Blaine_ . There was no secret that Ravi hated Blaine, especially recently because he was with Peyton, and Peyton actually seemed happy and that bothered him...because it wasn’t _him_ making her happy.

“Why would you ever want to chance a child with _Blaine_?!” Ravi asked her, making a disgusted face and shaking his head. “Please don’t do any more of these tests. I’ll help you, but not...just let's table this for now and come back to it.”

Nessie nodded slowly. “Well, we have to, because I’m out of resources.”

“Ew, just stop,” Ravi held his hands up and shook his head. “How did you even--no, never mind. I don’t want to know how you got it.”

“Watching him jerk off into a cup for me obviously,” Nessie laughed when Ravi let out a cry and covered his ears.

She waved it off as a joke, but...she also remembered that night, even though she had been drunk when it had happened.  


_Blaine had to admit that he was intrigued by what Nessie was telling him, but he also knew there had to be something else going on here with her. He knew all about Claire because the two of them had talked, and he also knew that Nessie was her best friend even though she was human. She was a scientist though, and he knew Claire’s only regret was that she’d never be a mother, so...maybe this was for her._

_He smiled at Nessie as she rambled, and while he knew he wasn’t going to get anywhere sexual with Nessie, but he had an itch to scratch, and this idea was intriguing. Blaine was so, so certain that it wasn’t going to work, but so what? He jerked off into a cup and she froze everything and worked with it when she needed to? Right now, he wanted to blow off steam, and she was hammered so it probably wouldn’t go anywhere anyway._

_“So how does it work?” Blaine asked her, smiling when she took her last Tequila shot and made a face. “How do I get you the sample?”_

_Nessie looked shocked. “What?”_

_“You said you’d need a sample, so...I’ll give you a sample,” Blaine responded, smirking a little, “You can even watch if you want, Doc.”_

_“I…” Nessie was blushing now, but she was drunk and her inhibitions were low, and she gave a little nod. “Yeah, actually. If you want to help, I mean...for science.”_

_Blaine chuckled and tossed some cash on the bar. “Yes, you’re about to watch me get off for_ **_science_ ** _. That’s the story.”_

_What was she even doing? Blaine was attractive, duh, but she wasn’t emotionally available. At the same time, Blaine obviously needed the release, and the watching kink was not at all lost on her because she’d get the sample, and he’d get off. It felt like a win/win, and it wasn’t like every once in a while she hadn’t wondered what his orgasm face looked like. So she headed to his place and took her jacket off, unbuttoning a couple of buttons on her blouse and pulling up a chair in his living room after getting the cup she needed to keep this sample in._

_“Didn’t think you were a watcher, Doc,” Blaine told her as he dropped his pants and sat on the couch, smirking a bit when she opened up her shirt a little for him to get more in the mood. It was honestly helping, and he smiled at her. “Kind of kinky.”_

_Nessie smiled at him. “If I’m going to watch, you’re going to have to call me, Nessie.”_

_“I can do that,” he replied, wrapping his hand around his member and stroking slowly, smirking as she watched him do it._

_It was clear that a part of her was into this, and he’d much rather actually be sleeping with her, but she was human and he wasn’t_ **_that much_ ** _of a dick. He’d already accidentally done that, and he didn’t need more mouths to feed, especially not when between the two of them, Nessie was more likely to pick Liv over him. Even if they screwed. So instead, he gave little moans as he started jerking himself off, a chuckle escaping when Nessie started talking him through it._

 _She didn’t need to do that, but she didn’t want to just be_ **_watching_ ** _once it started, and he was thankful. Gave him a little bit of affection in some way since he was doing this for her. Plus, he had to admit that he liked to hear her voice, especially with that edge to it as she talked him to him breaking point, her name whispered out as he came, Nessie catching his cum in the medical cup and telling him what a good boy he was. That...was kind of hot to Blaine, even if neither of them were really looking at each other romantically._

 _Whatever this had just been, they were friends now, and yeah, she’d helped him jerk off into a cup for science, but that little bit of vulnerability, told Nessie there was more to Blaine than what met the eye, and when he and Peyton hooked up, she shipped it without thinking about it._  


“Look, it was just an idea and I was wrong. Zombie-ism passing through sex is a very serious thing, and not everyone...I just wanted to see what I could do, okay?” Nessie told him, taking a deep breath.

Ravi nodded slowly, catching her tone. “Yeah, I still feel bad for Claire. She didn’t get to choose whether or not she was going to get to have children or not. Maybe...well, what if it was Zombie eggs and human sperm? Maybe the introduction of life wouldn’t become undead.”

“I think eggs are heartier than sperm, but...it’s worth a shot. Again, though, volunteers, because if it works, this embryo would have to be put into a human woman and grown into a child, which is a whole other issue, right? Because what if at some point in development, the fetus died because it became a Zombie, and then the surrogate became a Zombie? There are so many variables.”

“And what were you going to do, Vanessa? Carry the thing yourself?” Ravi asked her, shaking his head when she nodded. “Okay, no more experimenting with yourself of with Blaine’s gross. We will come up with another idea.”

Nessie nodded in agreement. “Trust me, I am on board with another idea.”

xxxxx

Claire was surprised when she was just let into Fillmore-Graves, but at the same time, she was a Zombie, and she was kind of his ex-girlfriend’s best friend. It wasn’t like  he didn’t know her or about her, he had tabs on so many Zombies, and she wanted to talk to him about something that was not about Seattle being a ‘Zombie Homeland’. No, she wanted to know more about more personal things.

“I’m a little busy, Ms. Fairfax,” Chase announced when she was led into his office, but she was still being led in, so he wasn’t _that_ busy.

Claire smiled and nodded, taking a seat as she watched him look at papers. “I know that you’re busy, but I also met this woman that still loves you.”

Chase sighed when the words came out of Claire’s mouth, but it was obvious she was here for a social call he didn’t want to have. It had taken everything in him to let Nessie walk away from him, ending things between them for the second time. At the same time, he knew he had done it for her own good, and he shook his head a little bit. Right now he wanted to just focus on his work and not on how desperately he wished that he and Nessie could have a second chance, but he didn’t see how that would work out.  


_The knocking on the hotel room door was weird to say the least, but when Chase opened it up and he saw Nessie standing there, he didn’t know what to do or say. He hadn’t seen her for a little while, and she looked_ **_angry_ ** _. Beautiful, but angry._

_“Why wouldn’t you tell me you were here? Vivian told you I was here,” Nessie told him, going into the hotel room when he opened the door up wider._

_Chase took a deep breath. “I didn’t think you’d want to see me...not after…”_

_“You broke my heart because long distance was too hard?” Nessie asked him, shaking her head as she looked him over. “God, why do you still look good?”_

_“Military training…” he said softly, but he smirked a little bit._

_Nessie gave him a look. “That was a rhetorical question.”_

_“You still look incredible too.”_

_She hated that he was still one-upping her with compliments, and that his eyes were raking over her like he was trying to figure out how to commit her back to memory. They were older, and time had passed, but when he walked up closer to her and tucked her hair behind her ears, she couldn’t help herself. She closed the distance between them and pressed her lips to his, groaning when he moaned against her lips._

_He had been missing her all this time, and he knew this couldn’t happen because he was a Zombie, but tasting her was something he felt like he needed to breathe. Hands roamed her body as she tugged at his hair, moaning at him, she started to unbutton his shirt, surprised and yet glad that he was letting her take his shirt off, her fingertips running along his skin, feeling every contour of his muscles._

_“God, I missed you,” Nessie admitted, tugging on his lip with her teeth before she lifted up her hands and let him tug her shirt off._

_Chase nodded at her. “I missed you too.”_

_God, he needed to stop this, but her teeth on his skin, nipping at his neck, made him groan. This was the kind of release, that he needed, but he had to stop. He did, and as she made a sound, her tongue on his neck, he took her hands in his and stopped her. She pulled back to look at him, and he shook his head at her._

_“What?” Nessie asked him._

_“We can’t--I want to. I want to, but we can’t,” he told her, feeling painfully hard, but he had to nip this in the butt._

_Nessie opened up her mouth to say something, but then noticed her hands. “Oh my God...is this...self tanner? That’s what I tasted...”_

_It suddenly dawned on her_ **_why_ ** _he was stopping her, and he didn’t know exactly what she knew, but she wasn’t moving away from him. Why? He did understand, but she was trying to figure out if she cared. Did she care about becoming a Zombie if it meant getting to be with him? Was he staying though?_

_“You’re a Zombie,” Nessie said gently, nodding her head. “You and Vivian both, and I already knew Harrison was, so of course you are too--you’re his brother.”_

_She was talking it all out loud, Chase smiling a little as he watched her because he honestly did miss watching her talk her ideas out loud. She was half naked, slacks and her bra, and he started to stroke her hair, also shirtless. Nessie even smiled a little when his fingertips started tracing shapes along her collarbone._

_“I want to fix things, but everything is different now,” Chase started, shaking his head as he took a deep breath. “Vivian is running a company that is important to the future. When humans find out we’re really here, everything falls apart and I don’t want you involved.”_

_Nessie didn’t look calm with him touching her anymore--her jaw tensed up. “I don’t care what you want right now, though. Just because I’m human doesn’t mean you can make this choice for me.”_

_“I don’t want you to get killed. I want you to have your future that you always wanted,” Chase told her with a shrug. “That’s all I ever wanted.”_

_“And all_ **_I_ ** _ever wanted was a future with_ **_YOU_ ** _!” Nessie rose her voice, shaking her head and moving away from his touch to grab her shirt. “I just wanted to be with you, and I thought we were moving forward, and then you_ **_broke my heart_ ** _, Chase. Into tiny pieces.”_

 _She didn’t want to have this confrontation right now, she’d just wanted to have sex, and she barged out of the hotel room before Chase could stop her...and he wanted to stop her._  


Thinking about it made him shake his head, not wanting to revisit this because there was nothing that anyone could do about it. He was trying to move forward after Vivian had died and he had inherited this whole company. It was his job to make Seattle a place that could function for everyone, so that the world could be shown that Zombies being here didn’t have to be the end of the world. Talking about Nessie was kind of the last thing that he could focus on right now when he needed to make sure that everything was in order.

“I see this isn’t about joining forces,” Chase told her, shaking his head. “I don’t have time for a social call, Ms. Fairfax. I’m trying to make sure that Zombie/Human relations work enough that we have as small a death toll as possible.”

Claire nodded at him. “Okay, fair enough, but not everyone working with you is here because they chose to be a Zombie. Some people are here because of accidents...because they want to be able to protect their loved ones...and Ness is working on something bigger than all of us to give people a choice to go back to their human lives if they want. She’s working on something bigger than the rest of us.”

“She always has been,” Chase explained, speaking before he thought about it. “She chose to be a scientist because she wanted to change the world. We wanted more than anything to be together and then I became a Zombie. I had to end things. Then she shows up on my doorstep and old feelings rushed back, but I’m a Zombie. She probably still wants what she wants. So if you want to know about her, you need to ask her. I don’t get to be privy to who she is now. I get to do _this_.”

He motioned around to the office, referencing the whole company, and Claire gave a gentle nod. They were clearly in love, and this whole Zombie thing had torn them apart, but did she _know_ that? Was Nessie aware that it wasn’t because he _wanted_ to leave? She’d known that his job was his job, and now he had a company instead of the military, so come on.

“Did you tell her…? Why you broke things off initially?” Claire asked him slowly.

Chase took a breath and shook his head. “It honestly doesn’t matter.”


	2. Old Habits Die Hard

**This chapter has sexual content and language in it, and a flashback to a changed story line.**

xxxxx

Nessie was taking a break from her work, sitting with Blaine getting some coffee. For most people, it would be weird to hang out with someone they’d seen get off, but neither of them really cared. Besides, they were in cahoots for more than just some medical experiment that was semi sexual.  


_“You’re sure you have zero memories?” Nessie asked Blaine, shaking her head a bit. “Because forgive me, but I don’t believe you. Ravi was being a dick, but, I’ve seen other sides of you, and I know you have a thing for Peyton.”_

_Blaine gave her a look, but he sighed too. “You want the truth?”_

_“I want the whole truth and nothing but the truth,” Nessie responded, tilting her head to the side and watching his facial expressions._

_“I did lose my memories,” Blaine told her, taking a breath, “but also I got them back a few days later. I just...”_

_“Want to change so you’re good enough for Peyton?” Nessie asked him, nodding when he nodded. “Yeah, I get the whole wanting to change for love thing, and everyone deserves a second chance. However...you can’t keep this up. Major is going to take that cure when he starts dying from cure number one.”_

_Blaine had been thinking about that more than he would have liked, and he knew that Nessie was right. If he really wanted to make this work, he was going to have to come clean, but he didn’t want to be the same person that he was. He remembered everything he did, and yeah, that had happened, but everyone judged him for it. Plus would Peyton even still like him if he admitted that he knew things?_

_“Peyton will leave,” Blaine told her._

_Nessie took a breath and then shook her head. “No...not if you gradually get your memories back. Then you can still deal with it_ **_and_ ** _have your memories. Admit that you remember how awful you were, and then find ways to atone.”_

_“Do you really think that will work?”_

_“Look, Peyton will be more impressed with you wanting to change, than with finding out you lied the whole time.”_  


Turned out that that had been solid advice, because in a slow ramp up to memories, he was able to keep up the facade and have Nessie point out that everyone reacted to drugs differently. Especially experimental ones. Wanting to be a better person, had Peyton still on the hook with him, and they’d slept together a few times, which had Ravi in a mood and Claire there to try to cheer Ravi up--as friends of course. Nothing had come of it yet.

Still, Peyton and Blaine had some issues because Blaine was still Blaine, but he was trying to be a better person. He had things to atone for. Everything was kind of a mess, and sex only made it worse...something that Nessie and Claire both knew all too well. Claire had used sex to try and get through finding out she was a Zombie now, and Nessie had seen the outcome. She’d also watched how it affected other people around her, and so she wanted to see Blaine and Peyton happy. By the time his memory 'came back' though...the cure was stolen and everyone was up in arms because now Liv couldn't take the cure.

“You going to ask me if I did it?” Blaine asked Nessie slowly. "I know everyone thinks it was me or Don E."

Sipping her coffee, Nessie bit her lip. “Look...I don’t want to know if you did or not because I want to believe you’re a better person than that. Peyton was so frustrated about how you remembered doing things, and while she’s forgiving you, so much is different. She wanted a completely new you, but also she has a thing for who you are now, but I know she has been distant and in return so have you. Major is human, Claire is in love with Ravi even though he has been a giant dick about Peyton, and it bothers me. We are friends, but, he literally slept with his old boss practically right after telling Peyton he was in love with her, and then tried to tell her he did love her, and kissed her while said woman he had banged was in the other room. It was a dick move, especially after acting like she owed him all these things, but...Peyton and I believe in you. Everyone is an emotional wreck right now, and I feel so bad watching Major have to watch Liv start dating one of his Zombie coworkers because he and Liv are back at square one with him being human again. Hell, I am emotionally not really here either: I lost Vivian and so did Chase.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask you about Chase,” Blaine told her, smiling a little. “You talk about him and you get heart eyes. It’s a little gross.”

“You can shut your face,” Nessie responded, shaking her head. “I don’t want you to ask about him. It is complicated. We knew each other before this, and when Zombie shit went down, he dumped me on my ass. Claire asked him all about it, so if you want to know more, you can ask her or go directly to _him_. I still love him, and I don’t want to talk about him.”

Blaine could tell that she did kind of want to talk about him, or she wouldn’t have even given up _that_ information, no matter how little. Still, he decided not to talk about it, because what would happen if she admitted more than that? If she actually let her feelings come out when things were like this? When she was friends with a guy that had gone out of his way to fridge his Dad? When she was trying to figure out what was happening with Blaine, who was acting differently.

He wanted to be with Peyton, he wanted to have a new life, but so much of his old life was beating on his door. There were things that Nessie would take to the grave for him, but also things that he just couldn’t tell her. Not when she was basically in bed with Fillmore-Graves. Perhaps she and Chase were avoiding each other, but eventually he was certain that she would be dealing with her past and then where would they be? Blaine wanted things to find a median, and Don E was kind of in the picture again too with his father 'missing', so Nessie was worried.

“I want you to be happy, Blaine,” Nessie told him, taking a deep breath. “Oh, and Ravi knows that I used your sperm to try and make hybrid embryos. He’s grossed out.”

Blaine laughed, shaking his head a bit and drinking his coffee. “That would have been one Hell of a kid. Gorgeous and probably gifted like you.”

“I’m blushing,” Nessie rolled her eyes, laughing a little and then sighing. “I do want to figure out a better cure, though. I mean, I’m a scientist, right? I think it’s all in the antibodies and regardless of whether or not you stole the cure, I’m not mad at you. There wasn’t enough for everyone anyway, and Ravi and I needed a kick in the ass to make a lot more on a higher scale, so we would have needed to come up with something else anyway.”

“Ravi did say that there was only so much tainted Utopium,” Blaine nodded, chewing on his lip. “So...you really don’t want to talk about Chase Graves? You gotta dress up and see him tonight.”

Nessie gave him a look. “Don’t remind me. I even have this killer maroon dress, but regardless of who I am, he gets all hardass about humans around the other Zombies at Fillmore-Graves and since so many of them will be there? Fuck it.”

“You should go,” Blaine told her.

Nessie had a feeling that she knew what he was doing, but she also wasn’t sure what to do here because Liv was going to be there on a brain, Major was going to avoid it, and Blaine was going to be doing whatever he was doing since Peyton was going. Claire was going too, but Nessie still wasn’t sure what she was going to do. After all, if she got all dressed up and had to deal with Chase giving her the cold shoulder, she was going to get plastered.

xxxxx

“You have to go, Ness,” Claire told her as she put her earrings in and smoothed out her blue floral dress and then chewed on her bottom lip. “If he sees you in that dress…”

Nessie looked over at her closet and sighed. “I don’t think I can handle it if he acts like a total jerk-off.”

“He would never treat you like that,” Claire rolled her eyes, moving to the closet and pulling the dress out before tossing it at Nessie. “Get dressed, we have a Zombie to hook.”

There would be consequences for this, Nessie knew that, but she took a deep breath and put the dress on, getting all dolled up and heading with Claire to the get together for the almost Mayor. When they got there, Nessie nodded when Claire went to go and get them drinks, because even though Claire wouldn’t enjoy it like Nessie because of the Zombie taste buds. Still, Claire was getting drinks anyway, and Nessie looked up to see Chase looking over at her, a little smile on his face for a moment as he looked her over, before he went over to Liv, his whole attitude completely changed.

He wasn’t ignoring her, but he had a job to do, and she smiled a little to herself that he had seen her and gone soft, even if only for a moment, and Claire came over with the drinks. Chase couldn’t show any weakness around the others, especially his men, and Claire could hear him making it clear to Liv that he didn’t trust Ravi. She didn’t like that, at all, but she also knew that he had no reason _not_ to feel like Ravi might turn on them. Chase didn’t trust Liv, and he shouldn’t because they were strangers, but Claire wondered if it would be a good idea at this point, for Nessie to vouch for him.

She seemed way too focused on being there for Blaine.

“I think Blaine is a Zombie again,” Claire told Nessie as she handed her the drink. “He’s been acting weird.”

Nessie gave a little shake of her head. “I don’t think he is. I think he’s trying to find his footing with his company while also trying to be a better guy so Peyton won’t hate him. If he became a Zombie again...how could he and Peyton be together?”

“It’s going to take awhile for her to come to terms with this,” Claire explained, shaking her head. “So in the meantime, I think you owe it to Ravi to go and talk to Chase. On his terms.“

“Stop being the smart one when _I’m_ the scientist,” Nessie teased her friends, but she sighed and downed her drink. “Fine…”

Nessie was just about to walk over to talk to Chase, when someone started shooting up the place, him reacting and Claire covering her with her body. Bullets still hurt a Zombie, but they didn’t kill one, and she was glad that she could rely on Claire for support. This was definitely not the time to talk to Chase, however, and so she had to wait until after everyone had been evacuated, to get dressed in regular clothes and head to Fillmore-Graves...which was a dangerous venture.

Because she was certain she wouldn’t be getting in on her own, she took Claire with her since she had been in before, and then Claire waited outside when Chase looked up to see that they were there. For a moment he was going to complain that he was in the middle of something, but when he saw that it was Nessie there, he seemed to have a change of heart. He did sigh, however, because she was in the lion’s den, so to speak.

“Why are you here?” Chase asked her, his tone always softer with her.

Nessie shook her head a little. “Look...I know you can’t tell me all that much about what Fillmore-Graves is doing, but Dr. Chakrabarti and I are working on a cure. I think we need to make a new approach, because we really don’t have an unlimited supply of Utopium. That’s a dry well, and the cure we originally had was stolen…”

“Zombie cure…” Chase repeated, taking a deep breath. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking I need antibodies, but not enough Zombies have taken the cure for me to work with blood samples, and with the cure stolen…” Nessie told him, nodding when he did. “Besides, the whole embryo thing didn’t work and I can’t…”

Chase looked at her funny when she said that, and even though she was blushing, she knew she had to tell him. These feelings she had for him were making her truthful even though she knew there were things he couldn’t tell her. He was running this place now, and she was human, and right now, those relations really weren’t good. Also...seeing him here, in Seattle, where she’d gone to get _away_ from him and memories of their time together, was really messing with her. So many times she had wondered what would happen if she were a Zombie too.

But why did he shut her out in the first place?

“Are you going to elaborate or make me wonder?” Chase asked her after a moment.

Just like that, she was telling him all about how she’d been super drunk when she got the sperm from Blaine, and how she could only use her own eggs because she couldn’t blab about Zombies to anyone, and how all five tries had resulted in immediate failure. Even as a Zombie, she saw him twitch, pissed about what she’d said, his lips pursed together now.

“You risked having a Zombie hybrid with some con man?” Chase asked her, the friendly out of his tone now.

Nessie made a face. “Don’t even try to ride that ride, Chase. _You_ dumped _me_ , and then almost banged me, only to admit that we couldn’t because you were a Zombie. I am trying to come up with a cure for people to take if they want to, and that meant a potential sacrifice, that didn’t even happen.”

“I suppose there is no point dwelling on the past,” he agreed, realizing he really couldn’t have this argument, especially not here. “Are you still doing the experiment?”

“Oh God, no. I was drunk when the idea came to me, to ask Blaine, and I don’t really want to go down that road again. He’s my friend, sure, but...it’s not what I want. Besides, the harvesting egg process is involved, and until I’ve got a new approach, there’s no point.” Nessie explained, shaking her head. “Besides, knowing you’re a Zombie now, I wouldn’t want to try with my own eggs…”

Chase recognized the trailing off, knowing that she wasn’t going to ask him for _his_ sperm, but glad that she wasn’t going to try again. Still, he wondered for a brief moment if there was something she could do. If there was a way to get a cure, he knew that it could help everyone somehow, but she was _human_. No one would believe in her the way that he did, and mainly because Fillmore-Graves was filled with Zombies that were waiting for humans to discover them and take them out.

Hell, that was already happening.

"If I was a Zombie," she began, wanting to change the subject, "what would the likelihood be of me getting to use resources here?"

Chase raised an eyebrow. "Higher than the likelihood of it now. We don't have to.worry about that though, now do we?"

"I mean...not unless you turned me," Nessie pointed out.

Even Claire heard that from outside the door, a look crossing her face as Chase shook his head. It had never been his intention to turn her, that's why he had broken things off, and Claire had never heard her ponder it before. She could always scratch her friend and do it for her, but she had a feeling there was something else going on here, so she waited to barge in.

"I can't just turn you, Nessa. Things are complicated, especially with me being in charge," he explained, shaking his head. "I can't just scratch you."

That had not at all been the course that Nessie had been suggesting, but she couldn't say that. It would open up too many doors, and she still had to think this through further. Maybe she would ask Blaine, because while Liv wanted to go back to being human, Blaine was torn because of a woman. Their situations were different, but some of the latent feelings were similar...she also needed to talk to Ravi.

"Literally anyone else could, and I want it to be you," Nessie shook her head though, holding up her hands. "It was a silly thought just for the sake of science. Sometimes I forget that my job is not actually my life and I have to live with my consequences."

Chase took a breath, smiling a little. "Look, I have a Zombie to make mayor, but this door is always open to you. There are only so many strings I can pull, but don't be a stranger."

"Right," Nessie replied, turning to leave and then pausing at the door, turning back around. "How long have you been a Zombie? I came here shortly after the boat party massacre and ran into Ravi while I was trying to piece myself back together. Everything was so raw and new and...did you dump me because of long distance, or because your brother made you a Zombie?"

"I take it Vivian told you Harrison was one of the very first?" Chase asked, nodding when she did. "For some reason I thought we'd been broken up for two years and you would have moved on by now. Why does it matter?"

"Because I need to know if it was distance that made you stop loving me, or if it was becoming a Zombie that made you want to protect me," she told him point blank, feeling her mouth go dry as she waited in anticipation for the answer.

Chase shook his head. "I couldn't give you the future that you wanted as a Zombie."

Nodding, Nessie felt a lump in her throat as her heart rate increased, and then she turned to leave. It had been the answer she had wanted to hear, but it had still been unexpected and she needed to get some air. Claire followed close behind her, realizing that now more than ever, Zombies were on Nessie's brain.

xxxxx

Blaine was trying to figure his own life out right now, because he wanted to be with Peyton, and it was clear she wanted to be with him too. The only issue here, was she was finally here ready to talk, and there was so much he couldn't say...but he has to, right? He had to say everything if he wanted to at least let her know it had been real.

"I know you didn't do it," Peyton told him, started to pace around the funeral home lobby. "Liv is so convinced that you did, but I just can't believe you would. Even with your memories back, I know how you feel about me."

Blaine took a breath, shaking his head. "Ness won't ask me either. I think you both have too much faith in me."

She didn't want to show herself as weak, but Peyton moved toward him to press her lips against his own, remembering that morning between them when she'd taken him to bed. Willingly, knowing who he had been, wanting to believe he had changed--or at least wanted to. She remembered him telling her he was remembering things, but she had wanted so desperately to hang onto the moment.

Her hand moved to unfasten his belt as his tongue slipped into her mouth, her hand moving into his pants. A moan escaped and he pressed himself against her hand, whispering her name as her hand wrapped around his member and started to stroke him. He hand missed her hands all over him, but he couldn't. This was too much, and he wanted to continue, but it wasn't fair to her.

"Peyton," he managed again.

She shook her head. "I need you, Blaine…"

"I'm a Zombie again," he told her quickly.

Her needy tone all but made him bend her over the desk and sink into her until he lost himself, but he couldn't do that to her. It sucked that she pulled her hand out of his pants so quickly and took a step back, and the pain in her eyes? He had never wanted to see that.

"You son of a bitch," Peyton managed, tears in her eyes.

Blaine shook his head. "It isn't what you think. Let me explain…"

"Explain what?" She asked him, shaking her head. "That you're back to being Blaine?"

"That my father tried to kill me and if I hadn't bartered my way out of it with one of his henchmen, I would be dead," Blaine explained, sighing loudly. "I wanted to stay human and give us a chance, but I…"

"...didn't want to die," Peyton managed quietly, a softness returning to her voice as she looked at him. "You really do want to be a better version of yourself, don't you?"

Blaine nodded, moving closer to her and smiling when she didn't move away. "More than anything."

Peyton nodded, trying to weigh her options in her head because these feelings were here. She could very much see herself falling for him, but what kind of future would they have now? Sex would turn her and she didn't want to be a Zombie, and the cure was stolen and if he had taken it...wouldn't he be human again? If she really believed he wanted to be with her, wouldn't he make that happen? So there was really no other option.

"What constitutes as contaminating intercourse?" Peyton asked him suddenly.

Blaine was completely caught off guard. "Excuse me?"

"If I get you off with my hand, that counts, right? We can work out what comes next, but I mean...I want to finish what I started," Peyton told him, her hand moving back to slip inside his pants again.

Blaine groaned, but he was smiling. "Pretty sure if I can French you, I can eat you out…"

She shivered a little at the thought and nodded because she knew she couldn't blow him. His bodily fluids would turn her, but saliva had yet to seem to carry this virus. Plenty of heavy making out and groping happened in Zombie/Human relations that didn't result in zombification.

"You just can't finger me just in case you accidentally scratch me," Peyton mused out loud, already stroking him again. "We can get toys we both like until we can figure it all out. Right now, though…"

She captured his lips with hers, swallowing his moan as she jerked him off, feeling powerful and mostly content that she had Blaine DeBeers at her mercy like this. It wouldn't be the same as having him fill her like he had when he was human, but a particularly kinky part of her was looking forward to having Zombie Blaine eating her out. Plus, they could explore a toy part of sex, and in the meantime, talk about where this relationship was going.

He was hard and twitching in her hand, Peyton whispering naughty things in his ear to make him cum, grinning when he groaned out her name, panting as he made a mess. Almost immediately, he was pressing her up against the desk, fingers undoing her pants and tugging them down her legs, panties and all, as he got on his knees. His cock was still throbbing, and he wanted to push into her and make her cry out his name, but instead, he kissed up her inner thighs, his tongue finding wet folds and licking a stripe up them.

"You still taste incredible," Blaine told her, his lips wrapping around her clit, making her gasp and then moan, spreading her legs wider for him.

Smirking, Blaine gave a hard suck before he started in with his tongue, Peyton's fingers gripping his hair, telling him she liked it. She smelled like sex, a main slipping past her lips as he pushed his tongue in, hands massaging her thighs. He was a master with his tongue, she remembered that much, and she was wet and whimpering at his touch.

" _BLAINE_ …" she moaned, gasping as he moved him thumb to rub her clit, his tongue lapping at her. "Oh fuck… _fuck_..."

Perhaps a part of her had known he was going to get her off if she came here, but maybe not like this. Not hungrily and determined, but he was an exceptional lover, and when she came, her thighs shook, and his name rolled off her tongue reverently and needy.

xxxxx

Claire was convinced Blaine was a Zombie again, and knew that would put a wrench in things with Ravi. She had left Nessie at the lab to get some work done, and went to check up on him. Things were rough with a Zombie group out there, and she knew he was getting ready to go undercover at some point.

"Knock knock," she said as she entered the morgue, smiling when he smiled at her. "Burning the late night oil?"

Ravi chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "Feeding the rats."

"Any new developments?" Claire asked, nodding when he shook his head. "Not on any front? Has anyone gone to ask Don E if he stole the cure?"

"He says he didn't but Zombies lie--no offense," Ravi said quickly, blushing at his words.

After all, Claire was a Zombie, and while she was the only one that never acted like one, she was. Her whole life had been taken from her by a one night stand that then became her angry sex fling--before he was killed off. Sometimes he forgot that this beautiful blonde in front of him, ate brains just like Liv and the rest of the Zombies.

"I'm just mad the cure is gone. Vanessa and I worked so hard on it and now…" he told her, shrugging his shoulders a little.

Claire wanted to speak up about how Nessie had stolen a cure vial for _her_ , but she selfish part of her didn't want it gone. She didn't want to potentially lose her chance at happiness down the road if she decided to be human again. As much as she understood Ravi's need to help Liv, Claire didn't owe Liv anything...but didn't that hurt Ravi in the end? The last thing that Claire wanted to do, was hurt Ravi Chatrabarti.

“We will find it. If you want, I can sniff around the Scratching Post and see if Don E will tell me anything. What do you think?” Claire asked him slowly.

Ravi took a deep breath. “I don’t want to put you through that?”

“Of course you don’t, but I’m a Zombie, remember? Everyone seems to forget because I don’t go all rager,” Claire laughed, smiling when Ravi laughed too. “I’ll get back to you on any news that I might have, okay?”

But for some reason...she couldn’t give up her cure.

 


	3. Moving Forward

**Sexual language warning, I guess, and a blood warning--we be eating brains this chapter.**

xxxxx

“I hate this brain you’re on,” Nessie groaned, taking a deep breath as she looked at Claire.

Claire was sketching as she sat at the island counter. “I can’t control when inspiration strikes, Ness. You’ve got to breathe in the moments.”

“Gag me,” Nessie responded, peaking over Claire’s shoulder and glaring when Claire covered it up. “Is that the Loch Ness monster?”

“This can’t be the first time you’ve gotten that,” Claire told her, raising her eyebrows.  


_“This can’t be the first time you’ve gotten that,” Chase laughed, laughing more when Nessie gave him a look. “Why are you mad at me?”_

_Nessie rolled her eyes. “Caricatures are supposed to be_ **_fun_ ** _.”_

 _“You_ **_love_ ** _the Loch Ness monster,” Chase reminded her, leaning in and stealing a loving kiss._

_“Her name is Nessie,” Nessie laughed, but she’d softened, and kissed her boyfriend back, the hand not holding the picture of them, snaking up so she could run her fingers through his hair._

_Whenever he was on leave and with her, she wanted to make everything worth his while, and maybe just maybe, this was about to get_ **_deep_ ** _. They’d been dating for four years at this point, and she’d met his family, and him hers, and she was just waiting for him to ask. She didn’t mind travelling the world with him and being the stationed wife while he was on active duty, but for that, they needed a ring. Was he even thinking about it?_

_“Why do you think I call you ‘Nessa’ instead?” Chase chuckled, pulling back to look her in the eyes and tuck some hair behind her ears._

_Nessie rolled her eyes. “You call me that because no one else calls me that, so it’s your own special name for me. Don’t pretend.”_

_“Let’s go somewhere I can call you it in a_ **_moan_ ** _,” he whispered, stealing a kiss and laughing when she pushed on him. “What?”_

 _“We can bang later, but you owe me a roller coaster ride,” Nessie responded, stealing a kiss and then taking his hand and leading the way through the crowd._   


Claire could tell that Nessie was lost in thought, and so she took the moment to finish up her sketch, turning it around to show her. The picture made Nessie laugh and brought her out of her thoughts, making her shake her head a bit.

“Oh my God, that’s actually good,” Nessie told her, sipping coffee. “Fine, I don’t hate this brain as much as I thought that I did.”

“I _knew_ it!” Claire exclaimed, clapping her hands together.

Nessie shook her head. “Okay, back to hating it. What brain did you say you were eating?”

“A teenager that died from surgery complications,” Claire admitted, shrugging a bit. “I went to go and see Don E about the cure that was stolen and ended up somehow flirting my way into a part of a brain from Blaine’s stash.”

“Ugh, _Claire_! I’m gonna hear about that later…”

Even though she knew that Blaine and Nessie were close, it was weird these days that they were almost closer than her and Ravi. Part of it was that Ravi had been such a dick to Peyton, and even though Nessie and Peyton weren’t good friends, it was the situation. Nessie had been in deep with Chase, and she couldn’t imagine someone expecting as much from her as Ravi had expected, even when he and Peyton weren’t together. So seeing Peyton and Blaine happy? Well, ideas had been running through Nessie’s head ever since hearing about their kinky sex, and Claire had a feeling it was part of what had them in cahoots.

She was worried about her friend.

Still, it was hard to say anything about it, even on this brain, because she wanted _Nessie_ to be happy at some point. With Chase in Seattle with her now, it was really hard to just run away and hide and bury her face in the sand, and she needed things for work. Not to mention, neither of them could get that last body they’d seen out of their mind in the morgue. Gossip or not, that lady had deserved a lot better. Plus there was the dead body they’d found that morning and called Liv and Ravi to get, that had obviously been assaulted, and then her throat slit.

“Do you really think that after trying to get everyone in line, Chase would even _think_ about being intimate with you if it ran the risk of infection?” Claire asked her, chewing on her lip.

Nessie sighed and then shrugged her shoulders. “I mean, who is going to fault me if I ask?”

“If you ask what?” Blaine asked, barging in and moving to the fridge for some hot sauce for his coffee.

He had been in the other room on the phone with Peyton, all three of them going to go and have some food together. It was just one of those days, and Claire had almost forgotten he was there, but she smiled at him anyway. Blaine had always been nice to her, and understood why she liked Ravi, but a part of Claire just didn’t trust him. Nessie might see things in an abundance of shades of grey, but she did not.

“Ness wants to see if Chase would be down for a friends with benefits while they figure out D-Day,” Claire announced, shaking her head. “I don’t think her brooding ex-boyfriend would be down. He doesn’t have the time.”

Blaine shrugged a little and made a face. “I mean, he has eyes, right?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Claire asked him.

“Ness is attractive, and given they have history of a romantic nature, he’d be an idiot to turn down a casual relationship,” Blaine drank some coffee and then shrugged. “That’s just my hot take on it though. If Peyton and I can make it work, so can you two.”

“How is that going anyway?” Nessie found herself asking. “I mean...you can’t have actual sex without turning her…”

Blaine took a deep breath. “That part _sucks_ , I’m not gonna lie to you, but we work around it, she gets lots of oral, I get all the hand stuff, and toys are important.”

“Yeah, I’m out,” Claire told them blushing, heading off to get some lesson plans out of the way so she could get back to her teaching job on Monday.

xxxxx

Ravi wasn’t expecting to be here in the thick of things with Don E strung up, and he especially wasn’t expecting to be saved by Liv and Blaine when the shooting started. Fillmore-Graves showed up to stop the live feed and try and arrest Harley Johns, but he got away, and the other two were going to shoot, so they had to take him out. Bo Johns was killed by Don E, who started to eat him, and Claire showed up with Fillmore-Graves because she’d run into Chase on his way to get to Ravi and she wanted to go too. They were late, but better late than never, so she helped Liv and Blaine, whose Zombie rage had worn off, and before she could go check on Ravi, she saw Blaine talking to Chase.

“Who’re you?” Chase asked him.

“I’m the guy who just rescued a zombie from being tortured live on the Internet. Along with my partner in crime here,” Blaine tried, but Liv moved out of his touch when he tried to pay her back, so he focused all attention on Chase. “Blaine McDonough,” he introduced himself, Claire watching them interact, seeing Chase’s jaw tense up. “Owner, proprietor of The Scratching Post.”

Chase nodded. “Chase Graves.”

“Oh so _you’re_ Ness’ ex lover. Nice to finally put a name to the face. Met a few of your employees, but we haven’t had the pleasure,” Blaine went on.

“Wait, Ness’ _what_?” Liv asked suddenly, feeling very out of the loop. “I know we’re in the middle of something, but that seems like important information that Ravi should have mentioned.”

“You’re right, we _are_ in the middle of something,” Blaine told her, changing the subject so Nessie wouldn’t kill him later. “Hey, listen. I've got a business proposition for you,” he continued, looking at Chase. “Why don’t you swing by the Post? Wine, women, song.”

Claire could tell that Chase really wasn’t interested at all, but that also told her that there was hope for Nessie and Chase yet. He was clearly jealous because of the embryo thing, and while Nessie had dropped that particular angle, it was still on her mind. They needed antibodies of the zombie virus to make a better vaccine, and all the cured people were a moot point...but what about Major? Would his blood work? Probably not considering he had two different cures in his system, so his blood was probably tainted somehow.

“We'll see,” Chase told Blaine after a very pregnant pause.

Claire cut in. “Okay, enough chit chat. I need to find Ravi, you need to go see about Don E, and you two need to help clean up this mess. This only brings us one step closer to D-Day.”

“You have a point,” Chase put in, giving her a nod. “You ever thought about teaching? We could actually use someone like you to teach and help us with negotiations.”

“Are you...offering me a Fillmore-Graves job?” Claire asked suddenly, swallowing a lump that had formed in her throat. Ravi would hate that, but also...he didn’t get to dictate her life choices. “I’ll be in touch with you.”

Giving her a nod, Chase went back to focusing his attention on the case at hand, Justin finding the gun models in Harley’s truck that matched the Baracus assassination attempt and the Tuttle-Reid murders. Liv was on the case there, and Claire’s arms were being thrown around Ravi when she saw him. He was looking for one of the girls that had been here with him, but he was so happy to be able to feel like he could breathe for a moment when Claire had him in her arms.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Claire told him, starting to look him over. “You’re hurt. We should get you looked at.”

Ravi smiled a little at how she worried she was about him. “I’m fine.”

“You can be as brave as you want to be, but I want to get you checked out,” she told him, making eye contact with him and smiling.

There was a moment, where they both looked at each other’s mouths for a bit, and then leaned in, but Major calling out Ravi’s name made them pull away from each other. This wasn’t the time for this, and maybe later they’d talk about a moment, but she was still a Zombie no matter what way this was spun. There were already _two_ complicated Zombie/Human relationships happening right now, and there did not need to be a third one. So instead, they went to go and find Liv so she could get Ravi home, but she was eating Bo John’s brain with Don E and Blaine, and Claire couldn’t say she wasn’t somewhat licking her lips over it.

“I’ll be in the car,” Ravi groaned, seeing Claire’s face and motioning to them. “Have at it, I just don’t want to see it.”

Claire wanted to say ‘no’ and follow him out, but she was a little peckish, and smiled when Don E and Blaine seemed so excited to share. Why let perfectly good brain go to waste? It was right here and as fresh as it could be, and she ate a little bit of it. It popped the way she liked it, the taste washing over her tongue as the blood made her smile, the iron taste making her shiver with delight. She didn’t even care how this would make her feel later, she just happily sucked the blood off of her fingers, giving a little moan.

“Thanks for letting me join,” Claire told them, standing up and then taking a breath. “I should go check on Ravi.”

Don E nodded at that. “Because you’re sweet on him.”

“Because he’s injured,” Claire responded, but she was blushing and left the room, Ravi giving her a little smile when she sat with him in the car.

xxxxx

“Our tech department's disinformation campaign has been reasonably effective. Most people still talking about the live stream believe it's "leaked footage" from some Blair Witch-like feature film,” Carey explained to Chase as one of his assistants spray tanned his naked body.

He nodded at her. “I know. Small victories, Ms. Gold. The troops are on edge, though,” he admitted, running fingers through his hair. “None of them think Zombie Island will be ready before Discovery Day arrives.”

“The civilian population feels differently. They're still hopeful we can avoid direct confrontation,” she informed him with a small smile.

“Sir, I,” one of the Fillmore-Graves soldiers began, Nessie moving to stand with him, which threw everyone for a loop because no one was expecting her, but everyone in this room knew who she was, and the soldier cleared his throat and looked away as Chase completely tensed up and Nessie kept her eyes on the scene in front of her. “I was told I could find you here, and I brought an informant with me--it can wait.”

Chase took a breath. “You're not a six-year-old: talk to me.”

“And I’ve seen it, so…” Nessie mumbled, shaking her head.

Clearing his throat again, the soldier continued. “Uh, sir, yesterday, at Wham Bam's, I had a bite of Bo Johns' brain. While talking to Dr. Corsac, I had a vision. I know where to find their cabin.”

Chase was glad to hear that, but he was also wondering why Nessie was there in the first place and why she had--no, he knew her. He knew she had followed him here so that she could see him, it just sucked that she was clearly annoyed to see him like this. So, he had his assistant stop, and then gave a nod, knowing he’d get all of this information later.

“Get your squad geared up. Get ready to go in 30 minutes,” Chase ordered, nodding when the soldier left, Nessie keeping her stand there.

Carey looked at her and then back to Chase, nodding when he nodded. “Should I notify our friends at the Seattle Police Department?”

“No,” Chase said shaking his head. “They've done all they can: it's our turn now.”

Carey nodded and then she and the assistant were dismissed, Chase looking at Nessie, who was smirking a little bit. Honestly, she _had_ seen it all before, but she glanced down at his crotch and bit her lip before looking back up to meet his eyes. He was smirking even more, still not moving to put his clothes on, and it made her laugh and shake her head. So, it was kind of obvious that he was enjoying this, but this wasn’t the place to have this conversation.

“Feel free to cover up at any point,” Nessie told him, licking her lip when he reached for his pants. “I had things to say, but what you’re dealing with right now is far more important. I just wanted to revisit...just...can I see you when you’re done?”

Chase nodded slowly, wishing she’d just finish what she was saying. “Of course we can. When I’m free tonight, I’ll text you.”

“I have the same number,” Nessie told him, smiling a little bit. “Do you always just stand naked and let women look at you?”

“I have to get fully tanned,” he pointed out, shaking his head. “No romantic relations with either of them. I promise you.”

He didn’t need to tell her that, but he had, and because he’d just given up the information, she gave a nod and then let it go. Right now he needed to get the men ready to go, so she smiled at him warmly and took her leave, feeling much better about potentially getting to figure this out with him. If they were going to be taking up the same space, she wanted to be able to find out what was going on between them. She still had feelings, but did he? If he did, then was there a way to get this back? Maybe there was a way for them to be able to start over somehow, because she _missed_ him, and she wanted to be able to come and go from here as she pleased.

They had a lot to talk about.

xxxxx

Following Harley meant following him into a minefield that was a trap, and she only knew because Chase had texted her and asked her to come over. Running Fillmore-Graves was a lot harder than it looked, and Chase was trying so hard to figure out where he stood here. He was still stuck in his hotel room, but he’d have his own place soon, and he had just lost two soldiers to a trap. People were being killed, Zombies were out of control, and he needed to find a way to make Seattle safe, and find a way to stay on top of what was happening here.

So when once again there was knocking on his hotel room door, he gave a gentler sigh when he let Nessie in, because he _wanted her around_ . He needed to have her here and that bothered him because he still didn’t want to turn her. Their past meant that yes, they had a bunch of unresolved feelings that they clearly still needed to explore, but they had to find a way that made this work. A way that wasn’t going to make it look like he was undermining his own rules, because he was _not_ going to let a human ruin what his brother had built.

“Oh, look,” Nessie said suddenly, distracted by White Fang wagging his white tail and hurrying to her. “I haven’t seen you in ages, sweetheart.”

Chase smiled a little. “Yeah, I got Carey to get him for me.”

“I’m glad she did,” Nessie smiled too, pressing a kiss to the dog’s head and then setting him down on the ground. “I know you needed someone to talk to because you’re feeling stressed, and you knew I’d come without hesitation, but...I need to ask you something first.”

“I don’t know…” Chase started, but he stopped when she held her hand up to shut him up.

“Do you still have feelings for me?” Nessie asked him suddenly.

It was like she wasn’t really giving him a chance to try and nip this in the butt, but did he want to? She was the first person he always wanted to talk to, and while he wanted her to have her life...she _had_ asked before about being a Zombie. Then again, there was a war upon them, and he couldn’t drag her into it. She might have a best friend who was a Zombie, but he remembered her father, and he remembered their life together before his brother scratched him, and everything changed.

“Nessa,” Chase tried, but he sighed when she shook her head. “I just needed your presence.”

Nessie nodded slowly. “Because you still have feelings for me. You even admitted that you didn’t want to doom me to this life as a Zombie, but all this research and watching people pine for other people, and I just want to be with you, Chase. This whole Zombie thing took you from me, but it can also bring you back to me...if that’s what you want.”

“Nessa,” Chase sighed, but he ran his hand down his face. “I can’t just turn you.”

“Of course you can. I want to help. Claire told me that you offered her a job here and I want one too. There are so many things about Zombies and Zombie relations that I want to know. I want to have better resources for a cure, and figure out how better to help Zombies and Humans work together, but…” Nessie trailed off and then took a breath. “Isn’t that was Fillmore-Graves is all about? Plus, you and I could do it together. We used to get so much done _together_.”

Chase could hear what she was saying, and he longed for it, but he also wanted to make sure that he had his say here too. Did he want to be close to her and bounce ideas off of her? Yes...but could he forgive himself if he turned her into a Zombie? He honestly wasn’t sure if he could. He just had to figure out, what this would all mean if he took her up on her offer. Would they be stronger together, or would she be a much wanted _distraction_.

“Discovery Day is barreling down on us,” Chase began, stepping closer to her and reaching out to tuck her hair behind her ear. “When that happens, there are going to be very clear sides, and I can’t...I am committed to the Zombie cause. A cure sounds wonderful, but yours was stolen and you don’t know how to make more.”

Nessie swallowed and slipped her arms around his waist. “I know that, I know that at some point, it is going to be Zombies vs. Humans, until a peace can be made together. Do you really think that I want to live in a world where you and I have to be on different sides? I know you broke up with me to protect me, but I don’t care about settling down and having kids. I don’t care about any of it, and I need you to know that. All I care about is helping you to fix this, and _being with you_ . Do you know how many different ways I could become a Zombie? I want to do it the _fun_ way…” she told him, lowering her voice and running her finger down his chest, feeling him tense and sigh under her touch. “The getting back together with you kind of way…”

Chase wanted this--he wanted _her_ \--and for once it was almost like the two of them were on the same page. She wanted to be on his side, and he wanted to be able to see her more often like things used to be, but right now? When he was still feeling the trap from before, and she was clearly really wanting to get this on and he wanted it too. Maybe he was thinking too much, but she wasn’t, because she moved to kiss him, and he kissed her back.

He cupped her face as he deepened the kiss, her hands moving to the bottom of his shirt, pushing his shirt up his body. Chase lifted his hands up, letting her tug his shirt up and over his head, his lips returning to hers after she tossed the shirt onto the floor. When she moaned, however, White Fang barked, which made Chase and Nessie pull apart. They both started laughing, and then Chase motioned to the bathroom.

“I can shut him in,” Chase offered, stealing a kiss and reveling in how perfect it felt to get to just kiss her again.

Nessie laughed when her phone went off to signal a text and she shook her head. “No...I want to feel like I’m not taking advantage. You lost men today, and this...banging just to turn me isn’t romantic enough.”

“You came here specifically to bang, Nessa,” Chase pointed out, shaking his head as he laughed. “Suddenly it isn’t romantic enough?”

“Please,” she rolled her eyes, taking her jacket off. “I’m staying, but to talk about things and be here with you. If sex happens then so be it, but I think Fangs is against it.”

Laughing, Chase watched her crawl into bed after she took her pants off, tugging her bra off and letting it drop too. Just her shirt and panties, and Chase felt his boxers get tight as he watched her deliberately make a show of getting into bed, and then he shimmied his pants off too and turned the light off. Getting into bed with her, he took a breath when she laid her head on his chest, his fingers running through her hair as hers traced shapes on his skin, feeling every conture of his abs.

“We’re going to find Harley and fix this,” Nessie whispered to him, smiling when he kissed her temple and then gave a laugh when White Fang hopped up onto the bed with them. “He missed me too.”

Chase nodded, fingers threading through her hair. “What’s your living arrangement like?”

“What are you asking?” Nessie asked after a moment.

“Just seeing if you’d want to move in once we’ve figured this out...it has been awhile since we were at a place to move forward, but why waste time?” Chase wondered out loud.

Nessie smiled and pressed a kiss to his chest. “We’ll figure it out.”


	4. Picking Sides

**The sexy time I’ve been itching to write is here so...sexual content warning. Some language. A little death. This chapter is mostly about Chase and Ness, so...expect mostly sexual content this chapter, and some plot from the Season Three finale.**

xxxxx

Waking up the next morning, Chase almost thought it was a dream, hearing Nessie’s soft breathing next to him. She was still asleep, and he moved his hand to brush hair out of her face, wondering how he got so lucky. When he’d broken things off, he had thought that that was that, but fate had brought them both together here, and he didn’t want to waste anymore time. Perhaps together, they’d make a difference in what would be a new world when everything came out to the public.

Leaning over, he brushed his nose along hers, pressing a tender kiss to her lips as a hand slipped down her body between her legs. A gentle sigh came out of her, her half asleep, but awake enough to part her legs. He could just scratch her and get it over with, but there was something so much more intimate about this being  _ this kind of decision _ . It was also a giant turn on to have her arch against his hand, his fingers rubbing her folds through her panties, a groan rumbling out of him as she moaned into his mouth.

“Good morning,” he whispered against her lips, kisses going to her jaw and then her neck, sucking on her skin as he listened to her breathing changing. “God, I missed your sounds…”

Nessie had this thought that this was it, she was on her way to becoming a Zombie, and that  _ excited _ her. Should it? When for all intents and purposes it would mean she was about to be an undead? Probably not, but the man she loved was using his hand now to push her shirt up, lips moving to her breasts. She was so turned on that her nipples had hardened, and she whimpered when he tugged at each one with his teeth, letting his tongue flick them, then his lips wrapped around them and he moaned against her skin.

“Please don’t stop…” Nessie managed to whisper, biting her lip and sliding fingers into his hair as he started to nip down her body under the covers. “Fuck... _ Chase _ …”

She knew what he was doing the moment he tugged her panties down her thighs and then off of her legs, setting them on the other side of the bed. Then his tongue was on her, slowly tasting her for the first time in years. He moaned against her heat, dipping his tongue inside of her and chuckling when she gasped and spread her legs wider apart for him. Oh, he was going to have her for breakfast before he fucked her right into this mattress. Leave it to Chase to remember how horny she got in the mornings.

“Oh my God…” she whispered, tugging on his hair with one hand and moving the covers off of his head so she could watch him go down on her, when he used his thumb to rub her clit in circles, practically lapping at her as she arched against his map. “Still so good... _ fuuuuck _ …”

The swear was drawn out, the moaning getting louder as Chase went at her clit faster, far more into eating her out than he had been at the beginning. He had missed when he could do this any time that he wanted, and she started saying his name in a moan as he really let her clit have it, working her with his tongue when she arched and her thighs shook, Chase feeling so proud of himself when she came, his name rolling off her tongue in a cry as his phone went off.

He kept up his movements, just slowing them down, which made her groan, but she gently whispered ‘more’, which made him throb. Chase kissed her clit, giving it a teasing suck before he started to kiss up her body, spending time time at her breasts, his lips eventually landing on hers as his phone went off again. This time hers did too, but it was obvious by how her hands went into his boxers and she exposed him, that she wanted him to fuck her into the mattress now. She wasn’t done with him, her hand wrapping around him and stroking up and down, moans rumbling out of him as  _ both _ of their phones went off.

“Son of a bitch, am I not allowed to get laid?” Nessie asked, which made Chase chuckle, trying to catch his breath as he reached for his phone.

She was still stroking him though, and he groaned as he opened up his message. “Nessa... _ fuck _ ...hey…”

“ _ Chase _ …” she moaned teasingly, leaning up to suck on his pulse point, which made him groan. “I’m not done with you…”

He wanted to tell her he wasn’t done with her either, but he was suddenly sitting up and she knew that even though he was up and ready, this wasn’t happening right now. That look on his face told her that something was up, and she tugged her shirt back down, reaching for her phone too. The worst part, was that if there wasn’t an article about Zombies in Seattle on the front page of the paper.

“Leave it to Liv to ruin my sexual morning,” Nessie sighed, smiling a little when Chase leaned down to steal a kiss and then got up to start the shower. “If I promise not to jump you right now, can we shower together?”

Chase smiled and nodded. “Get in here.”

Nessie laughed a little and got the rest of her clothes off, her and Chase keeping to kissing and then washing up, before they got out and got ready to go. It was strangely domestic and felt so good, and for a moment they both wondered if it could really last. After all, this was brand new territory and they hadn’t given anything a proper go yet, and they deserved it.

Chase had to admit, that even waning it, there was a downside to having a girlfriend that he could wake up to, especially one he knew liked to take advantage of mornings, but he also felt oddly,  _ calm _ . Yeah, he was sexually frustrated, but he and Nessie were regularly texting now and pretty soon they would have a whole new routine, that he did want to get into before this outing became bigger than it already was. That wasn’t the only thing that had him in a funk this morning though.

Claire had sent Nessie a link to Shawna’s Tumblr page, which had made Nessie feel bad because saw over her shoulder. She knew that Major was human and at Fillmore-Graves, but she knew that Chase hadn’t known, and given his stance on his company, it wasn’t going to fly well, and she could tell he was mad at her because he knew that she had known. Was she ever going to tell him? Because having a human there to protect Zombies and not be able to completely hold their own if it was needed in a pinch? For Major to be  _ lying _ to him this whole time? That wasn’t going to be tolerated.

“I thought you said you were picking a side,” Chase shook his head as he finished getting dressed. “Why are you protecting him?”

Nessie swallowed. “Because he has nowhere else to go. I didn’t say you shouldn’t be mad, and I’m not saying you shouldn’t take him off of the task force, but can you please look at me?”

“If I turn you, you can’t be keeping this shit from me,” Chase told her, sighing loudly, but letting her rest her hands on his hips. “I really preferred being sexually frustrated because of work, not because I’m mad at you.”

“And you have every right to be mad, but can you just...think about a solution?” Nessie asked him, sighing when Chase stole a chaste kiss and then left her standing there.

At least he was still trying, but she knew he was about to do something drastic, and she went to see Claire while Chase went to work. He brought the Tumblr up and scrolled through it a fourth time to make sure he wasn’t completely jumping to conclusions, and then he looked up when he saw Major open up his glass, office door. Might as well get this out of the way and then deal with Claire and Nessie later.

“ You wanted to see me, sir?” Major asked him.

Chase nodded. “Major. Sit. Join me for lunch.”

He handed Major a brain tube and opened it up himself, knowing this was a test, but needing to know for sure. It wasn’t that Chase wanted to dismiss Major, because he didn’t, but he had to make a lot of tough choices, and he couldn’t be in this position. He couldn’t have a human potentially get his entire squad of trained Zombies killed. Didn’t matter how he felt about Major personally, mattered that he needed everyone to be ready for D-Day.

“Hmm,” Chase hummed, watching Major look at the tube. “You haven't lived until you've had these gourmet brain tubes made especially for the top brass.” He watched as Major tentatively ate a little, and then he nodded. “See. Now you know: we eat the same nasty brain sludge as everyone else.”

Major chuckled at that. “I never doubted it, sir,” he cleared his throat though and moved to place the brain tube on the desk. “I’m just not hungry.”

“Mmm…” Chase nodded, pausing and then motioning to the laptop. “The Internet, huh? Weird to think there was a time when people didn't post all the details of their lives for everyone to see.”

“Yes, sir, I remember it,” Major agreed with him. “Vaguely.”

“And take this, uh, shameless local girl, for instance,” Chase began, looking at him. “Sex Tent: a Haiku.”

The moment that came out of his mouth, Major closed his eyes and listened to Chase quote the Tumblr page he already knew about. It was part of what he had broken up with Shawna over, but now it was being dragged into his work and he was feeling embarrassed. It also bothered him even more, that Shawna wouldn’t have thought to  _ not _ put all of that out there where he could in turn, get in trouble with his superior like right now.

“‘We built a sex tent. We did it in the sex tent. Then we did it some more,” Chase read off, and then exhaled. “Not even a proper haiku, is it?” he asked Major, turning the laptop around to face him so he could see the selfie that Shawn had taken of them in bed with her selfie stick.

Taking a breath, Major looked at Chase. “Sir, I ended that.”

“Wise, but not the point,” Chase intervened quickly. “From Shawna's ramblings, it seems you had an intimate relationship with a human, and she did not turn into a zombie,” Chase pointed out, leaning forward a little and watching the realization settle on Major’s face. “So, either you discovered a revolutionary form of prophylaxis...or you're human.” He nodded when Major didn’t say anything, and gave a couple of ‘tut’s. “Anyone else here know this?”

“No one, sir.” Major responded. “Look, I just wanted to serve.”

“What you want doesn't matter,” Chase told him harshly, shaking his head. “What matters is that you've put zombies at risk every time you went out into the field.” He paused for a moment, but his mind was made up. “It's not something I can allow to continue. You are no longer an employee of Fillmore-Graves, effective immediately.”

The words settled in with Major and it felt like  _ heartbreak _ , because after everything with the Chaos Killer, and then with all this cure and almost dying and another cure, this was all he had. Where was he supposed to go if he didn’t have this? Shawna had reminded him that not everyone was ready to see him, and that most people hated him, and this was the only place he had felt he belonged.

“Sir,” Major leaned forward, remorse all over his face, “I  _ am _ sorry. Put me at a desk. I'll mop the floor. It's just... _ this _ is my family.”

Chase thought it over a moment, tapping the desk with his fingers, but he stood up and held his hand out to him. “Thank you for your service.”

Major knew that that was that and shook his hand, turning to leave, noticing Claire all dressed like she was coming to work. Wait a minute...was she about to start working for Fillmore-Graves? He needed to clear out his stuff, and Claire and Chase immediately started talking, so he’d ask her later. For now, Major had to figure out what it was that he was going to do with his life now that he wasn’t allowed to be part of Fillmore-Graves anymore.

xxxxx

“Ravi, I need you,” Nessie found herself saying as she came into the morgue, noticing him arguing with someone. Liv came up behind her too, tanned and wearing a very nice wig, and Nessie took a deep breath. “Okay, now I feel bad I didn’t bring coffee.”

Ravi sighed and looked at all three women in his Morgue. “Alright, so...this is Rachel. Rachel, these are my colleagues. Olivia works here with me, and Vanessa works for a pharmaceutical branch.”

“Rachel, the reporter?” Liv asked, handing Ravi the coffee she had gotten him.

“Seems my reputation precedes me,” Rachel told them, her and Nessie feeling ignored when Liv and Ravi got called by Clive to look at a body.

Nessie took a breath and looked at Rachel. “So...you’re the one that wrote the article in alt weekly saying that there are Zombies in Seattle?”

Rachel nodded and then Nessie did, not sure what to do here because the moment was so awkward. Neither of them knew what to say to each other, and Nessie excused herself, pulling out her phone to text both Claire and Blaine since Ravi was busy and would be until whatever this murder was, was solved. She needed to talk about things  _ right now _ , and was really happy when Claire responded and they met up for coffee.

“How was your meeting with Chase? Did he seem mad?” Nessie asked her, chewing on her lip. “Because I think I pissed him off this morning.”

Claire laughed a little bit. “He was a little annoyed, but we mostly talked about work. See...he wants me to help him with Zombie/Human relations. Talking to people, trying to keep everything as peaceful as possible. Help to educate the children on being open-minded.”

“You’re the perfect person for that job,” Nessie told her, giving her a nod. “D-Day is really coming at us, isn’t it? We are all going to have to choose our allegiance and that is going to be that. I suppose...is this what you want? What about your cure?”

“Yeah...I’ve been thinking about it,” Claire admitted, chewing on her lip and then looking at Nessie. “Look, I have a thing for Ravi, I really do, but he’s still every once in a while getting upset that Peyton and Blaine are sleeping together. Right now, I want to focus on the fact that I can do some good here. With that article out? It is only a matter of time.”

Nessie knew that she was right, and after deciding to talk about other things, and going window shopping, they parted ways and Claire went to go and see Ravi. She needed to have some one on one time with him before this new job really went into effect, and she smiled when she found him in the Morgue...but the smile faded. Oh, was that the body of the chick he’d slept with? Oh that was awkward.

“I’m sorry, Ravi,” Claire told him, reaching out to rest her hand on his arm.

Ravi gave her a smile as he closed up the door to Katty’s body. “I’m honestly okay. Trust me, it is weirder that Liv is on her brain right now.”

“Yeah, that’s gotta be weird,” Claire agreed, looking at him. “Do you...can I ask you a personal question?”

“Sure,” Ravi shrugged his shoulders. “As long as you aren’t a reporter.”

Claire chuckled a little at that, and then chewed on her lip. “Have you ever wondered if Peyton wasn’t your one?”

That was  _ not _ the question that he had been expecting to have come out of her mouth, but he did wonder  _ why _ she was asking it. Did they flirt sometimes? Of course they did. Sometimes they even glanced at each other’s lips, and he remembered the almost kiss when he was infiltrating Harley’s operation. Was she asking because she wanted to talk about it now? They’d been avoiding it, and maybe it was best they talk about it.

“Once or twice,” Ravi admitted, tilting his head to the side to look at her. “Why do you ask?”

Claire shrugged her shoulders gently. “Because we almost kissed...unless I read that wrong.”

“You read it right, but…” Ravi trailed off, swallowing.

“But I’m a Zombie and the cure was stolen?” she asked him slowly, nodding when he did.

At least there was no question anymore about this attraction between them, but it was once again a chance for Claire to let him know that she had a dose of the cure...but would that ruin this before it even began? Would it matter if he found out later, that she took it  _ for him _ ? She was feeling so at odds right now, but she didn’t want to make a move. Not right now. There was too much at stake with that article out and public, and at least she knew the feelings were mutual. Maybe when she had a better footing of what Seattle would be with Zombies out in the open, she could figure something out with him. Right now, she was starting a new job at Fillmore-Graves and she knew that he and Liv weren’t their biggest fans.

Plus, she knew he didn’t know about Nessie and Chase planning on making her a Zombie and moving her to head Fillmore-Graves’ science division, so she needed to slow down. Seattle was about to change  _ drastically _ , and she was going to be there to try and make it less of a mess, even though she knew it wasn’t going to end well. Zombies were not seen positively and no one was trying to spin it any other way, so...the fear was going to be first and foremost. That was what she had told Chase, and she was sticking by that.

“I don’t want you to think I’m like...trying to ask you to wait or anything, because I’m not,” Claire spoke up, shaking her head and looking at him, realizing he was closer to her. “I just...wanted to make sure I wasn’t imagining anything.”

Her words got quieter as he got closer, his lips crushing against hers as he cupped her face. Yeah, even trying to throw the Zombie thing out there, he was kissing her like this, and she was groaning, her hands reaching for his hips and pulling them against her own. She wanted to feel so much more of him, but knew he couldn’t take her like she wanted him too--not without infecting him. He pushed his tongue into her mouth, though, making her moan, and she pulled back, both of them panting a little bit.

“Oh, that’s not helping,” she managed to say, pulling back and touching her lips with her fingertips as Ravi caught his breath. Claire smirked a little when her eyes rested on the tent in his pants, and he blushed and stepped to put the table in between them. “I’m going to go, but I’m glad we talked…”

Ravi nodded in agreement. “Yes. Yep, me too. See you later?”

“Definitely,” Claire replied, and hurried out of the Morgue, really needing to keep her hormones in check right now.

xxxxx

Chase thought it would be romantic to have an actual date, especially given that he and Nessie were trying to get over a hump right now. There were going to be sides to pick, but no matter how annoyed he was about the Major thing earlier, he smiled when he watched her put her earrings in. It had been her idea for them to get ready together, and he was glad he had agreed.

Stepping up behind her, he pushed her dark hair all over her shoulder, pressing a kiss to the back of her neck as he zipped up the back of her dress. A calm, intimate gesture, that made Nessie smile too, and then she turned to brush off his shoulders, humming into the kiss Chase pressed to her lips. Oh, she had missed this domesticity between them more than even the sex, but she’d be lying if she wasn’t somewhat revved up and ready for the end of dinner already.

“We should take Fangs for a walk, get some food, and then come back here, and get lost in each other…” Nessie suggested, smiling when Chase did.

He nodded at her. “We are in agreement. Though...shouldn’t you make an appearance at Major’s send off tonight?”

“I wasn’t invited. Liv found out about you being my ‘ex-lover’ from Blaine, and she didn’t want me to go. Major and I already said a 'goodbye', so I'm not worried he'll miss me too much. I want to spend tonight with  _ you _ ,” Nessie admitted, stealing a kiss.

“Then put those heels on and I’ll grab White Fang’s leash,” Chase whispered, growling a little when Nessie took his bottom lip between her teeth and tugged gently. “If you’re not careful, I will take you right here...right now…”

“Don’t think I wouldn’t let you,” Nessie replied, stealing a kiss and pulling away to pull her heels on.

He had almost forgotten how much of a tease she was, but he was looking forward to this, and hand in hand, they started out with a walk. They caught up a little, both of them stopping when they saw Liv outside of a bar. Pausing, they all stopped and looked at each other, Nessie tilting her head to the side because wasn’t Liv supposed to be somewhere? Sending Major off since he had just gotten fired by...well the man Nessie was leaning against.

“...Hi…” Liv greeted them.

Nessie smiled at her. “Hi. We’re just walking White Fang.”

“I didn’t know you two had a dog together,” Liv told them, leaning down to give the dog a pat on the head and then standing up.

“Technically he’s Chase’s dog, but, yeah,” Nessie responded, realizing how awkward this was, but she didn’t care--this was about her and Chase, it had nothing to do with Liv.

“We were out on a date, though, so, it was nice running into you--you look very nice--but we’re off to dinner,” Chase put in, giving Liv a smile. “I hope you have fun sending Major off.”

That said, he guided Nessie to an outside table at the restaurant he wanted to take her to. White Fang hung out at their feet, Chase smiling at his beautiful date across the table. He had had all day to try and convince himself not to follow this through, but for once, he wanted to do what  _ she _ wanted, and he trusted her. She was on whatever side was  _ his side _ , and she wanted in, and there were a million reasons to have her in the loop. To have her working for him. Did it complicate the boss/employee line? Certainly--he didn’t care.

“Do you remember when we met?” Chase asked when the waiter poured them wine and dropped off a water dish for White Fang.

Nessie smiled at him. “I do, but something tells me you’re about to be  _ super _ romantic and tell me what you remember about it.”

“Nessa,” Chase chuckled, shaking his head. “It was on campus, you were doing Grad School, and I had stuff to do. I saw you, in that halter with your hair up, and I thought, ‘Damn, she’s incredibly hot’.”

“Oh my God,” Nessie laughed, but she was smiling more.

“I walked over to you, and saw you pouring over this biology book, doing some equations I still don’t understand, and I realized you were smart too, and  _ way out of my league _ ,” Chase continued, taking a sip and then setting the glass down.

Nessie nodded at him. “And then I looked up at you and told you that your shadow was in my way, but I smiled because I did not expect this handsome soldier to be right in front of me...and we got Frozen Yogurt in the Quad, and swapped numbers.”

“I waited until the eighth date to let you take me to your dorm.”

“Luckily my roommate was out…”

“I can’t believe I waited that long.”

Nessie smiled at him over her wine glass, both of them making eye contact, Chase glancing at her lips, but being distracted when the food came. They both broke eye contact to eat a little, and then Nessie polished off her fourth glass of wine, leaning back in her chair to get a look at the handsome man across from her. Once, she had thought she’d have to get over him, but now, she was about to be further immersed in his world, and part of her couldn’t wait.

“Since we’re doing this...is there anything in particular you want to do when we get back to your hotel room?” Nessie asked, chewing on her lip.

Chase let out a groan. “Other than bite your lip myself...I have been thinking about this pretty detailed fantasy I have about the desk in the suite.”

“Oh, yes. I’ve seen it--the one by the window,” Nessie responded, beaming when he nodded. “Does this fantasy have anything to do with taking me on it while still getting a view of the city?”

“I mean sex with the most beautiful woman I know, sitting on top of the furniture, a view overlooking the city--it’s erotic, really. Intimate.” He whispered, leaning in and smiling when she did too.

Nessie nodded at him. “It’s also a really nice desk…”

That was all Chase needed to ask for the check, taking Nessie and White Fang back to his suite, apologizing profusely to White Fang as he shut him in the bathroom. Then, he turned to see Nessie hopping herself up on the desk, kicking off her heels. Chase could feel himself hard already, moving to her quickly, lips connecting. A groan slipped when she wrapped her legs around his waist, pressing his body against hers, her hands feeling him through his clothes.

He wanted to do some foreplay, he did, but they were constantly being interrupted, and he got her dress unzipped, their lips crushing together. Chase swallowed her moan, reaching between them to tug her panties off, fingers stroking her folds as his teeth trailed to her jaw and then to her neck. Her whisper of his name made him dip a finger inside of her, groaning at how wet and warm she felt, adding another finger and pumping it, smirking at her gasping moans. God, it was a feeling he had missed so much, a chuckle escaping when he heard her moan his name.

Tossing her panties away, he tugged at her dress to get it off, nodding when she went straight to getting his pants undone. Hurriedly, he got them down his legs, boxers and all, watching Nessie undo her bra with a twinkle in her eye. When she tossed it away, he kissed her again, hands moving to her breasts, thumbs teasing the taut peaks as he gave gentle squeezes. Her legs circled his waist again, hands running up his arms and sliding into his hair.

“Are you sure?” Chase asked her, a hand moving between them, the tip of the head of his member teasing her wet folds.

Nessie nodded at him. “Chase? Fuck me on this desk…”

A growl came out of him as he pressed against her entrance, pushing in, flesh in flesh for the first time in years. What came out as a gasp from her, became a moan, Nessie tilting her head back a little as Chase nipped at her neck, pushing his hips forward to push farther into her, pulling back slowly only to slam back in so she could feel every inch of him. There was no going back from here, this intimate act sealing the deal, Chase chuckling as the desk beneath them shook with each thrust of his hips. He hadn’t gotten to make Nessie make these sounds in so long, picking up speed as she squeezed his body with her thighs.

Keeping up the thrusting of his hips, he pulled his lips away from the mark he was sucking into her skin, looking her in the eye. That gentle sound of her breathing, and the noise of the desk and their love making, was all that could be heard for a moment, and then her lips were back on his, a hand of his reaching behind her to rest on the desk. His palm pressed against it so he could better leverage his thrusts, Nessie arching against him and making louder sounds as he fucked her harder against the desk.

She bit his pulse point, nipping and then sucking at his neck too, moaning against his damp skin, letting out a little cry when he hit that sweet spot. His other hand went to her clit, rubbing as he kept a steady pace, feeling her inner muscles clench around him. Oh, she was close. That only made him pick the pace up, making sure to rub her clit as she raked her nails down his back, Chase grinning when he heard her cry out his name. Her legs shook as she came around him, making him groan too. That made him keep going, giving a few more hard thrusts before he came too, letting himself fill her up.

If there was any doubt she’d been infected before...there was no doubt now.

Chuckling when she started showering his face with kisses, Chase locked his arms around her and picked her up, carrying her over to the bed. He slipped out of her, laying down with her, both of them snuggling up under the covers and laughing together as they stole kisses and stroked each other’s hair. They were coming down from the high, and glad they were finally back together, and ignoring that there was a whole other issue here. They both needed to be on the same page, working towards the same goal, and while Chase was certain they could make it work, he also knew that this warm and fuzzy feeling inside of him, was going to be a distraction.

“At some point we need a whole day of just...foreplay and sex,” Nessie laughed, watching Chase as he got up to go brush his teeth and check on White Fang.

Chase chuckled at that. “I don’t know where we’ll find the time, but, I meant what I was asking before. I have a new place tomorrow, and there will be a yard, and there’s space for you to move in with me. We’re both going to be really busy…”

“I know,” Nessie responded, giving a nod and then taking a beat.

She was already starting to feel different, and pretty soon, she realized she was feeling hungry. Chase got out of bed with her and got her a brain tube, which made her make a face at him, even though she had signed up for this. He wasn’t like Blaine--he wasn’t in the business of brains--and this brain mush was kind of gross. However, it sated the hunger, and Nessie caught a glimpse of the white strand of hair in the glass of the bathroom door. She needed her wits about her and she got that, but a part of her also wanted to know what fun it was to eat a brain/brain like Liv and Claire had done in the past.

“Ooof, white is not my color,” Nessie told Chase before downing the rest of the brain tube. “Looks like I’m officially a Zombie though…”

Chase nodded, settling his arms around her and kissing her forehead. “We have no more obstacles now. It’s kind of nice.”

“It’s  _ very  _ nice,” Nessie agreed, but even as she settled in with him to sleep, she had a fleeting thought that there were plenty of new obstacles to come.


	5. Snake in the Fox House

**No warnings really apply.**

xxxxx

Nessie had dozed off after the brain tube, only to be woken by Chase getting out of bed hurriedly. He’d gotten a text about an explosion at Major’s going away party, and a bunch of Fillmore-Graves soldiers had been killed. Chase needed to get some things together, and he frowned gently when he realized he’d woken Nessie up. 

“Hmmm?” she mumbled sleepily.

Chase took a breath. “You need sleep. I’ll be back, I just need to go and take care of something.”

“Something middle of the night, dire?” Nessie asked, sitting up and reaching for her phone.

When she looked at it, she saw that Claire had called and texted and she hadn’t woken up, but Nessie knew her body was going through changes right now...changes that she had  _ asked for _ . Right now, she needed to get her ass up and go join Ravi, Claire, Peyton, Liv and Blaine to see if Major was alright...if Liv’s current boyfriend, Justin, was alright. Chase was making a face at her though, and she shrugged.

“Brain tube for the road? Then you can do what you need to, and I’ll do what I need to and I’ll be back,” Nessie told him, smiling when he leaned in for a kiss.

He made her go the rest of the way for it, and she kissed him tenderly, taking a brain tube and then heading out after getting dressed. She headed all the way to LIv’s and Peyton’s place, seeing Peyton and Blaine cuddled up on the couch, Blaine clearly only there for support. Ravi and Claire were pacing, and Liv was biting her nails, everyone looking at her with wide eyes when she came in--except Claire.

Even though her hair was piled on top of her head, her pieces of white hair were obvious, and she knew she owed them an explanation. She just also knew that not everyone really cared for Chase, and this wasn’t the group that would give her any praise. So, maybe she avoided the  _ how _ , and kept things focused on the fact that they were waiting to see what happened and figure out who survived.

“You’re a Zombie now?” Liv asked, shaking her head. “Chase?”

Oh right, Liv had seen them out walking.

“Has anyone heard if Major is okay?” Nessie found herself asking, seeing that look on Claire’s and Peyton’s faces. Took Ravi a moment to process that she’d slept with Chase Graves, but Blaine didn’t look surprised at all.

Before anyone could answer, or grill her with questions, the door opened, and Liv’s whole face brightened up when she saw Major. Yeah, maybe right now she was dating Justin, but Nessie could tell that Major was the only one for her. Nessie had seen that look before, and she nodded when she saw how Liv hugged him, and then hugged Justin when he came through the door with less tenacity. Everyone noticed, but no one said a thing.

“ We were so scared,” Liv told them.

Justin nodded. “I'm okay: we're okay.”

“We thought you were dead,” Claire put in, wishing she didn’t feel so guilty for not going to the party either. She’d been working at Fillmore-Graves when it had all gone down. “We were literally thinking the worst when we saw the news.”

“Natalie's dead,” Major told them all, shaking his head. “Coyne and Hurley and Zack--most of my squad. The only reason we're alive is dumb luck.”

Nessie swallowed when he said that, looking at Justin when he asked Liv where she was, and they disappeared into Liv’s bedroom. They didn’t know what was going on, but, they knew it was bad when Justin then stormed out of the house because apparently while on Katty’s brain, Liv had realized that she just couldn’t do this. This was the worst time to come clean about it, but at least Justin knew.

Taking a breath, Nessie realized all eyes were on her now, and she didn’t really want to explain what had happened, but what more could Major say? A bomb went off and killed a bunch of Zombies, and now they were going to have to deal with it. Claire and Nessie were aligned with Fillmore-Graves, and they weren’t feeling very welcome right now in this house. At the same time, Blaine  _ never _ felt welcome except by Peyton.

“So...your allegiance?” Liv asked Nessie, trying to get the attention off of herself. “Claire is working for them, but to be a go between. She wants to help us all live in harmony and I can get behind one of us being on the inside, but... _ Chase Graves _ ?”

Nessie gave Liv a look. “I can feel the judgement radiating off of you, but if you must know, I knew Chase when I was in Grad School. He was a soldier, I was a med student. We dated for four years and almost got married, but he got scratched by his brother for this company. So you can all judge as much as you want to, but my history with Chase is not up for debate.”

“That’s...a  _ lot _ of history…” Ravi said gently, nodding when Nessie did.

She and Liv were staring each other down, however, and Nessie excused herself because she didn’t feel welcome there anymore. Instead, she headed back to the hotel to pack things up so that moving to Chase’s new place would be easier, and she texted Claire. Maybe she wasn’t ready to leave their apartment quite yet, but she  _ was _ ready to spend more time with Chase. Everything was going to depend on how all of this went down, and Nessie knew one thing when she looked in the mirror: she needed to tan and dye.

xxxxx

Work was proving to be harder for Claire than she had thought, but will all the Fillmore-Graves deaths, she had a lot to do. Part of that work involved going over a plan with Chase, but when she went to his office, she saw that Blaine was already in there, so she waited outside and listened. The last thing she wanted to do right now, was interrupt her new boss when he might be in the middle of an important business venture.

“We're importing brains from third-world countries, war zones Places with too many consonants and too much death,” Blaine explained to Chase with a nod. “You say the word and Fillmore-Graves is officially out of the brain procurement business. You keep your hands clean, and leave the legal risks to me. Why don't you flip to page 12--”

“--Let me stop you there,” Chase told him, holding his hand up. “We won't be using your services.”

For some reason, Blaine had hoped that this would go so much differently, especially given that Nessie was currently  _ literally in bed with Chase Graves _ . Since they were friends, he had assumed that Nessie would have helped to pave the way to get here, but maybe she hadn’t. Or perhaps, Chase was still a little annoyed about the fact that Nessie had admitted the whole hybrid idea, and Chase was letting personal feelings get in the way of a potentially good business venture.

“With all due respect, your men are hungry,” Blaine pointed out to him.

Chase gave him a look. “Is that so?”

“They're my best customers,” Blaine explained without a beat.

Claire made a face outside the door when she heard Blaine say that, knowing now that he was somewhat goading Chase into this. Yes, the deal made sense to her, but maybe that was only because she was friends with Blaine too and and wanted everyone to prosper in this trying time. She didn’t know if she could see it from Chase’s point of view, but he  _ was _ a businessman, and perhaps he shouldn’t let someone else be in charge of something so important to this place...okay, maybe Chase was doing what was best for  _ him _ .

“I'm afraid I've got some bad news, Mr. DeBeers,” Chase spoke up.

Blaine kept his face neutral. “ _ More _ bad news, huh?”

“Whether it's blue brains or normal whole brains with their variety of personalities, they put my men in jeopardy.” Chase explained, Claire nodding from her perch outside of the door because yes, that was true--they needed to have their wits about them. “That's why I've let my men know your establishment is off-limits.”

Blaine sounded upset now. “They're half my business.”

“That's not my problem,” Chase responded almost too quickly.

“You need more brains,” Blaine said after a pause, leaning forward to try and grab Chase’s attention. “I know you do.”

Chase took a deep breath. “I think I’ve got my brain situation under control.”

“I hope that’s true, because it isn’t just you anymore, is it?” Blaine asked him, knowing this was a low blow, but he felt like he had to try every ditch effort here. “You just added a new Zombie to your ranks, and she’s not one of your shoulders. You really going to force her to eat brain mash for the rest of her Zombie life?”

The fact that Blaine was dragging Nessie into the conversation was a low blow, and Claire decided she needed to go in, seeing Major as she straightened up. She smiled at him, him smiling back, and they both moved to go into the room as Blaine snatched the papers out of Chase’s hands. That clearly hadn’t worked, and now he had to go to Nessie to potentially go behind her boyfriend’s back and figure this out with him.

“Lillywhite,” Chase greeted, nodding at Claire as well. “Ms. Fairfax--I only had an appointment with one of you.”

Claire spoke up before Major could. “I’m fine if you want to hear him out first. Honestly, this is going to take up very little of your time…”

Chase knew what she was doing, but he also wanted to hear what Major had to say, and he nodded and took a seat. “Sure,” he motioned to the other seat, Claire sitting down on the other side of the couch Major was on. “Hell of a day.”

“Yes, sir,” Major responded with a nod of his own.

“You don't need to call me sir, Major, you don't work here.” Chase reminded him.

Major nodded slowly. “I want back in.”

That was the last thing that Claire had thought that he would say, and her surprised look and the way she looked at Major, made Chase pause. He hadn’t been sitting around debating it with anyone, meaning it was probably something that he really wanted. The only problem here, was that Chase had made himself  _ very clear _ , and with what had happened with the bomb, he really couldn’t afford to just let Major back in. There were too many variables, and too much going on, and he just couldn’t be lax on this because there were far too many lives at stake: human lives and Zombie lives alike. Even if this was something that he wanted, Chase just couldn’t give it to him.

“We've been through this…” Chase began.

“Scratch me,” Major said almost immediately. “Make me a zombie.”

Claire took a deep breath. “Major, you took a cure so you wouldn’t have to live this life. I know that being the Chaos Kidnapper threw your life off track, but are you positive? The cure was stolen and Ness isn’t anywhere near close to this antibody thing right now.”

“We've all been through a lot,” Chase agreed, giving a nod. “We've lost a lot of good men.”

“Twelve,” Major reminded them. “We lost 12.”

Chase and Claire both took a breath when he said that, Chase feeling it more than Claire but they were both Zombies. This was a hit to them also, because Fillmore-Graves was made up of military and highly skilled men, and they had lost a dozen of them to what was very clearly an act of  _ hostility _ . People already knew that Zombies existed, it was only a matter of time before they were all hunted and then destroyed and they couldn’t let that happen.

“You need to know what becoming a zombie now means,” Chase began, feeling like he was about to tell Major the same thing he’d told Nessie.

Major gave him a look. “I think I do.”

“Trust me, you don't.” Chase responded, shaking his head and standing up, moving to the window. “Discovery Day is on us. All those humans out there are going to be in for a big surprise, and no one knows how they're gonna react.”

“They're going to be terrified,” Nessie explained, everyone looking over to see that not only had she entered the room, but she had dyed her hair back dark and clearly come from tanning. “If we're going to survive, we might have to do a few things that can't be undone. Chase made that very clear to me before I chose to be a Zombie too.”

Nodding, Chase looked at Major. “If I scratch you, you better be damn sure whose side you're on.”

A lot was happening here right now, and Claire still needed to debrief Chase on what she had found, and she would, but the air was thick now. Major wanted to be a Zombie. He wanted to be on the side of Fillmore-Graves because this was his family and he’d lost family in that bombing. As far as he seemed concerned, he was not allied with humans anymore. That was a huge step for all of them, but Claire could understand how he had gotten here and she kind of wanted to have Major back...but what did this mean for  _ her _ ? She was still holding onto that cure and maybe she needed to give it to Nessie to be tested on to make more--why hadn’t she thought about that before?!

Rolling up his sleeve, Major extended his arm to Chase. “It's not even close.”

xxxxx

Nessie stretched a little as she put her jacket in the closet of hers and Chase's new place, leaving the door open for Chase to hang his up as well. She and Claire had talked briefly about how Claire wanted a smaller place now that Nessie wanted to move in with Chase, and there were no hard feelings. If anything, it almost made things easier, and rent cheaper, and Claire wanted her friend to be as happy as possible.

Life had out a wrench in things for Nessie and Chase in the past, but right now? They had a chance to move forward together, and Chase was really looking forward to this. Especially since the two of them were trying so hard to be open and honest with each other. That would go a  _ long _ way in the coming days, and after the day they'd had at work, they just wanted to curl up together and enjoy each other's company.

"Was that a splash?" Nessie asked suddenly, glancing out toward the pool, seeing a very wet Liv through the deck door. White Fang was barking at her, and Nessie suddenly felt  _ annoyed _ . "Something tells me it isn't a social call…"

Chase was in the middle of taking his jacket off when he followed Nessie's gaze, sighing and tugging it back on. Heading outside, he looked at Liv and put his hands in his pockets, Liv looking up at him completely caught off guard. It was obvious she was sneaking around, and so Chase and Nessie invited her in, Nessie calling out to tell Clive he could come too.

Tossing Liv's wet clothes into the dryer, Chase sighed, Nessie making sure she had a robe and a towel for her hair. Whatever this was, Nessie was pretty sure they were about to be interrogated, and she was not looking forward to it. At least neither she nor Chase had to go through this alone, but that meant from now on, the Seattle PD would see them as a unit.

"Isn't that the plushest robe ever? It's from my hotel room," Chase explained, holding his hands up. "Don't worry, I bought it. Nessa and I wanted mementos from our reconnection...and now, I should probably call...well...the cops, I guess."

Nessie took a deep breath. "I will bet you anything that you don't even have a warrant."

"We wanted to find your dog," Liv explained with an even tone. "We think you used him to cause the outbreak of Aleutian flu."

Chase sighed when Nessie scoffed, moving to sit opposite Liv and Clive, shaking his head. Of course they were skulking around thinking the worst of him, and Nessie seemed extra perturbed. It was clear that Liv did not like Fillmore-Graves, and that she and Nessie didn't get along, and the protective part of Chase knew that he had to be protective of the woman he loved.

"And what's my motivation for that?" Chase asked her Liv, looking her in the eye.

Liv answered almost immediately. "Brains."

"You know, Harley Johns wasn't the shooter in the Tuttle-Reid murders." Clive put in, watching as Nessie stopped leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, and sat on the arm of Chase's chair with him.

Nessie's arm slipped around Chase's shoulder supportively. "What, that wasn't the murder weapon in his truck?"

"It was," Clive admitted to them, "but he didn't pull the trigger."

"How do you know that?" Chase asked cautiously.

Nessie sighed loudly. "Because she ate his brother's brain. Claire did too, but she had it out of her system before the others. Liv probably had a vision so of course, she is back to hating Fillmore-Graves and assuming it is all us."

Everyone in the room noticed that Nessie had just  _ officially _ started her allegiance, and Chase smiled a little. His hand went to her hand on his shoulder, and he gave a it a squeeze before he turned his head and brought her hand to his lips to kiss it. She couldn't possibly understand how much that meant to him, but it also showed Clive and Liv that in the future, Nessie was going to be taking attacks on Fillmore-Graves personally.

"Do you know a Katty Kupps?" Clive asked, noting how Nessie and Liv were half glaring at each other. "She came into Seattle investigating the flu. Seems the CDC was onto whatever happened on that plane."

Chase tilted his head. "Are you charging me with something? Or am I charging you with something? This is so confusing."

Clive sighed loudly, getting up from sitting on the couch. He could tell that Nessie was on edge, and being freshly Zombie, he didn't want to annoy her, but he did wonder if there was more going on here. Could they even trust her anymore when was in bed with Fillmore-Graves?

"We're done here," Clive told them, Liv rising too.

Nessie nodded at them. "That's all fine and dandy, but you came crashing into our pool and we dried your clothes, remember? They won't be ready for another 30 minutes."

"Great," Liv mumbled, shaking her head. She didn't want to be here anymore, but they were a little stuck. "This is just great…"

"We could always make the best of it," Nessie suggested, kissing the top Chase's head before getting up and motioning to the kitchen. "We haven't been moved in long, but, I could whip us up something...Clive something without brains."

xxxxx

It wasn’t that Claire didn’t trust Carey Gold, but she was trying to figure out what was going on here when Nessie told her that something was fishy with Carey sending her daughter to transport Chase’s dog. Liv and Clive being on the case meant that something was up, seeing as Liv was always eating brains to solve murders. Did that mean that Carey was behind this flu issue? After the news about the vaccines being mandatory, Claire was pretty sure something was going on.

“I was thinking that...oh, I’m sorry. Are you two busy with...work?” Claire asked when she entered Chase’s office and saw Nessie sitting on the desk, back to the door, facing Chase.

Looking over her shoulder, Nessie shook her head. “No, not particularly. I was just running through a potential budget for testing antibodies...in a slightly unprofessional manner.”

“Okay, well, I pulled the files you wanted to see,” Claire told Chase, setting them on his desk. “Plus, Ravi texted me and told me Liv had a vision of Carey having Katty Krupps in the trunk of her car…”

“Oh, that conniving bitch,” Nessie whispered, taking a breath. “I’ll go deal with the lab, you deal with this,” she told Chase, stealing a quick kiss. “Claire? We’re going to need to be ready if this goes south. Come with me.”

Claire nodded, following Nessie out of the room, Chase picking up the files and looking through them twice before he got a call from Clive, telling him what Claire had already told him. That only made this even more dire a situation, and he sighed loudly, paging Carey to come to him. This went so much deeper than anyone realized, and Chase wished he could stop what had already been set into motion, but he couldn’t. It was too late to pull the plug on the trigger that had already been pulled.

“You called for me?” Carey asked, poking her head in the door.

“Yeah, come in. Sit,” Chase told her, setting down the glock he was cleaning and clearing his throat as she did so. “I just wanted us to take a beat. Make sure we're on the same page.”

Carey tilted her head a little. “About?”

“My recollection is we had a plan,” Chase began, looking at her sternly. “A plan favored by me, favored by my predecessor. A plan to quietly build Zombie Island, then, just as quietly, move the entire zombie population there once the infrastructure was complete.”

“Mmm, that was the plan, yes,” she answered him, a little too cooly.

“Yes...until we switched to Plan B,” Chase told her, taking a moment to collect his thoughts. “The Doomsday Plan: the plan we're following now. The plan  _ you _ set into motion without approval.”

It had taken looking over a few of the files that he’d asked Claire to pull for him, for him to realize that they were already in the middle of something that couldn’t be stopped. Something that he had never authorized and the only other person that was close enough for him to do it? Carey. It could be argued that Nessie could have done it, but she had no pull in Fillmore-Graves...not yet. Someday she would, but Chase firmly believed she was on his side through thick and thin.

“Me?” Carey scoffed at him. “I’m the person that requisitions toner cartridges. You think  _ I _ put Plan B into motion? That's slightly above my skill set.”

Chase took a deep breath. “Detective Babineaux and Liv Moore dropped by my house last night. They think my dog was used to spread the Aleutian flu virus...the same dog you so kindly retrieved for me as a welcome home gift.” He could tell by the annoyed look on her face now, that he had her. She had done all of this, and it hurt him that someone he trusted had betrayed him like this--betrayed their kind like this. “Did you really need to kill so many zombies to make your plan work?” He nodded a little when she gave him a look. “I guess you needed our people frothing at the mouth, angry at humans.”

“I’m the one that's been preaching restraint,” she pointed out to him.

“You must have learned about the email Fred Tuttle sent me earlier this year,” Chase continued, glancing at a couple of files. “He wanted to talk to me when I came back stateside about a disloyal faction inside the company. That must be why you killed him, killed his sister, his 11-year-old nephew.” That hurt him a little to say, but he had to keep going. “Then you laid the blame on a bunch of Internet crazies tracking zombies. My sister-in-law Vivian resisted launching Plan B, so you killed her, too, figuring that, given the escalating tension, the personal loss, I'd put Plan B into motion.”

He reached for the phone, getting his secretary to send in a security detail, looking up when he saw Nessie re-enter the room too. Honestly, he didn’t know what he’d do without her, but it probably wasn’t the best idea for her to be here right now. Claire was busy doing things he needed, and it was going to be even more imperative that he have her here to do her job, because with the Doomsday Plan in motion, they were going to need relations to be good sooner rather than later. So many people were going to die soon, and Chase knew he couldn’t stop it.

“What are you going to do to me?” Carey asked Chase, ignoring that Nessie had walked into the room now too.

“I haven't decided,” Chase sighed, shaking his head. “It's too late to turn back the clock on Plan B, God help us. Maybe I'll lock you up in a freezer until I can put your fate to a vote. I doubt our people will be kind to a traitor.”

Nessie looked up as the three security men came in, trying to gauge the situation because Carey looked annoyed to be found out, but other than that? She wasn’t as readable as Nessie would have liked, and she moved to stand behind Chase, wanting to show a united front, and that she wasn’t going anywhere. It was nepotism, it was, but the closer she got to Chase, the more she knew she would also be responsible for this company, and she was ready to defend it.

“You're the traitor, Chase,” Carey told him, not looking remorseful at all. “That's how it will be written in the history books. Zombie Island would've gotten us all killed,” she continued, and Chase and Nessie could tell she passionately believed that. “All of us together in one place? Some government, probably our own, would've  _ nuked _ Zombie Island into vapor. You and Vivian weren't idealists, you were  _ cowards _ .”

Chase shook his head. “Get her out of here.”

When the guards didn’t move, Nessie tensed up, seeing the smile on Carey’s face, and on a couple of the guards’. This was a mutiny, she knew that now, and she was ready for a fight, but not without Chase giving the signal first. Slowly, Carey stood up, looking Chase in the eye and smirking a little bit before she glanced at the security guard that was smiling the most--he looked like he was in charge.

“I don't want to mess up my brand new office,” Carey told him, shaking her head. “Take him and his human nuisance of a girlfriend outside and shoot them in the head. I don't care where you bury the bodies. Surprise me.”

The guard smirked and looked at Chase. “Looks like you chose the wrong time to clean your glock.”

Chase looked down at the desk and then started to go around it, pulling the extra weapon out of his belt and shooting all three guards in the head, one by one. That surprised Carey, and so did seeing Nessie’s eyes go yellow and then red, veins appearing on her face. Okay...so she was most definitely not human anymore, but she wasn’t on Carey’s side, and she looked at Chase, seeing the hatred in his eyes for her.

“I just decided what to do with you,” Chase told her, holding the gun up and pointing it at her head. “Threatening Nessa was the last mistake you’ll ever make.”

Carey looked him in the eye. “There are more of us.”

Chase knew that was true, but he pulled the trigger anyway, turning to Nessie when he heard Clive call out to him. He didn’t care about Liv or Clive right now, he had a new Zombie to calm down that meant more to him than he had realized before. Nessie was still growling, Chase trying to get her to take deep breaths, fully aware that he had just shot someone that Liv and Clive probably wanted to question because of the murder they were investigating.

“You’re a hair too late,” he managed when Nessie’s eyes went back to normal. “Mutiny, led by Carey. She was trying to sabotage the move to Zombie Island.”

Nessie shook the veins out of her face. “For her, there was no being isolated. She needed brains because she wanted all of us to be able to be where we wanted. I get it, I do, but she went about it the wrong way.”

“Did she kill Wally and Anna Reid?” Clive asked them.

Chase looked at him. “I'm not sure if she pulled the trigger, but she ordered it. I believe it would be in everybody's best interest if I take care of this mess in-house.”

Moving to look at Carey’s body, the bullet in her head, Clive nodded. “Be my guest.”


	6. The Word is Out

****

**This is really just a setting up some main plot lines kind of chapter.**

xxxxx

Blaine was pretty peeved about what had gone down with Chase, and had asked Nessie to come and see him. They were friends, certainly, and he’d done her that sperm favor, but he was kind of mad and itching to threaten someone. Still, he was trying to be a better person, and Peyton’s hands massaging his shoulders, was helping him to calm down a little bit.

“She doesn’t control him, you know? Anymore than I control you,” Peyton told Blaine, pressing a kiss to his neck. “I don’t have much time either, I have to get back to helping out with the vaccines for the flu. What exactly are you…?”

At first, Peyton hadn’t been on board with Blaine going back into the brain business, but she also had feelings for a Zombie, and knew several other. They were going to need to be able to get their fixes, and at least with Don E at the Scratching Post, it seemed a little less shady. Not to mention, if the Zombie outbreak got ‘worse’, how were people other than Liv supposed to get their brains? Peyton hadn’t heard yet, whether or not Fillmore-Graves had a plan for that.

Blaine took a deep breath. “I’m trying to figure out how to keep business going when Chase has banned his people from coming here.”

“He needs them focused and on brain tubes,” Peyton reminded him.

“Sure, but they aren’t on duty 24/7, and I’m pretty sure he’s just mad that Ness and I had five dead embryos together,” Blaine told her without thinking.

The way that Peyton was looking at him now, and how she had pulled her hands away, reminded Blaine that he hadn’t told Peyton about that. About how the incredibly  _ not _ remorseful version of him had gotten drunk and masturbated into a cup for science...science that yielded no results. It was that last part that he felt like he and Nessie had to keep reminding people about.

“I’m sorry,  _ what _ ?!” Peyton asked him.

Nessie walked in just then, sitting down at the bar. “Hello, guys. What’s new?”

“Apparently you and Blaine and five dead  _ embryos _ !” Peyton lashed out at her.

“Whoa, whoa--that sounds worse than it is, let me explain,” Nessie sighed, shaking her head.

After sending a glare to Blaine, she explained her whole theory and the drunken evening to Peyton, who seemed less annoyed. However, she did get now why Blaine would bring that up because she was upset and of course Chase was too. They were in relationships with people that meant a lot to them, and had these experiments worked? That would have been an incredibly awkward situation indeed...and how did Blaine and Nessie act like that meant nothing between them? Then again, all Blaine did was jerk off in a cup for her.

“Okay, sorry,” Peyton managed, squeezing Blaine’s hand back when he squeezed hers, sighing when her phone went off.

Nessie waved it off. “Don’t be sorry. Neither Blaine nor I were thinking, and it was before anything serious was happening with you and Blaine, or me and Chase--Hell, nothing happened. There is not, never was and never will be, anything romantic in between Blaine and I. Promise.”

“I promise too,” Blaine responded, stealing a kiss from Peyton and frowning when she said she had to go. “Just...swing by when you’re off, okay? I got a new...you know what…”

“I’ll be there,” she answered, but she was blushing, which meant they were talking about a sex toy that Nessie didn’t feel the need to know about.

They were clearly in a good place together and Nessie was glad, waving at Peyton as she left, and then turning back to Blaine. She knew why she was here, and there was nothing else that she could do about it. Chase had already made up his mind, and while she would have liked to have them be getting along, she wasn’t about to tell Chase how to run his company. Fillmore-Graves had to look like it was legitimate and like it was a company that could be trusted, and Chase just didn’t think that could be achieved by working with Blaine.

“I can’t undermine him,” Nessie told Blaine almost immediately. “I also can’t just have him go back on his word when he’s trying something, especially after what Carey did. We’ll find a way. I firmly believe that we all have to find a way to work together because there will come a time that we Zombies are all going to have to rely on each other...weird, huh? I haven’t even been a Zombie that long but you guys are my people.”

Blaine chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. “It was only a matter of time the moment you realized that he was a Zombie. I just don’t understand why he can’t see how nice it would be for us all to just work together on this.”

“Because something got put into motion that can’t be undone,” Nessie responded almost immediately. “I don’t know what, but I know he’s worried about it.”

xxxxx

Claire had told herself she wasn’t coming back here right now, but Ravi had texted her and Liv in a group text to get them to join him at the Morgue. When she got there, he seemed busy with all the tubes and beakers he had laid out, but before she could say anything, Liv had walked in as well. Ravi noticed them both when Liv spoke up, and Claire just smiled and nodded.

“Remember how, a couple months ago, Katty told us about that mysterious plane crash? And how one of the girls on the plane had brains in her stomach? And how Katty learned that that girl had been to the same boat party where you'd been turned into a zombie? Remember how worried we were that Katty was getting very close to the truth?” Ravi asked them.

Liv nodded at his words. “Yes.”

“Look what the girl had in her pockets! Boat party, read, Tainted Utopium. Two vials,” Ravi said excitedly.

“Oh my God, that’s great! Did you tell Ness?” Claire asked, noting how the whole atmosphere of the room had changed.

It was no secret that they didn’t trust Fillmore-Graves, so it was weird she had even been invited here, but she and Ravi had a connection. He  _ trusted _ her. It just bothered her that suddenly he didn’t seem to trust Nessie, when they’d worked on the cure together, because she was the biologist. That and genetics had been her majors in college, and then she’d decided to work at a Pharmaceutical place and now? Well now everything was different because she was with Chase and he was giving her a job at Fillmore-Graves too.

The thing was though, Claire knew that Ravi and Nessie were still friends, even though she knew Liv was upset about the Carey Gold thing. Even allowing Chase to clean up in-house, things had been set into motion and Liv was starting to get suspicious of Nessie’s actually allegiances. Maybe that was also because Nessie and Blaine had gotten closer and closer and they were sort of taking Peyton from her because Peyton was furthering understand the severity of everything. She was starting to understand that this situation was anything but black and white.

“The vials are empty,” Ravi shrugged, “but they’ve evaporated, so there’s still residue. I probably won’t have enough for a cure, but it’s still valuable and I’ll tell Vanessa at some point. She’s been so focused on her hybrid idea that I feel like she shouldn’t know.”

Claire made a face. “You remember she’s a  _ biologist _ , right? She’s the one that’s the most likely to understand this. You worked together on the last one.”

“She’s just going to tell Chase,” Liv told Claire, shaking her head. “I don’t want Fillmore-Graves to have control over something this big.”

That was about what Claire had been expecting, but it rubbed her the wrong way that Liv and Ravi honestly thought Nessie would turn on them like that. She knew just how important this cure was, and she wasn’t convinced that Nessie would just throw away these friendships to burn bridges. Claire understood that Fillmore-Graves could easily control this cure if they had it in their possession, and she knew how crappy  _ that _ could turn out, but...would Chase really do that when he was with Nessie? When her happiness meant so much to him? Maybe it was just her always thinking the best of people, but she wasn’t convinced of that either.

“You guys are going to drive her right into a partnership with Blaine at this point. He’s been better, and he’s trying, and he’s happy, but Mr. Boss is still an issue, and  _ someone _ stole the cure. I know in my heart of hearts that Blaine didn’t steal it, but if he found any of it, do you think he’d return it to you guys? No...because you’re being judgemental assholes.” Claire explained, shaking her head a bit. “You two do what you want, but I don’t want to be part of this if it means lying to my friend. You’re on your own.”

Ravi started to protest, but Claire was out the door, ignoring his text that came through when she was trying to text Nessie. She just wanted to find a way for everyone to work together peacefully, but even then, she was worried when Nessie’s texts seemed so urgent. Right now, anything that was Fillmore-Graves related was hard to stomach, but only because Carey had planned a coup. Everything had to be fixed now, and Fillmore-Graves was willing to go to great lengths to fix it...which was made even more clear to Claire when she and Nessie met with Blaine and Don E at the Scratching Post.

“I finally figured out what is happening,” Nessie explained, shaking her head. “Chase only told me because he said he didn’t want there to be secrets between us. After what Carey did, releasing that virus and condemning all those people to death? Chase is going to turn a bunch of people so we’re on a more equal footing. I’m so against turning people without their knowledge, but I get where he’s coming from right now.”

Claire took a deep breath as Blaine sat there in his chair. “Wait... _ how _ ?”

“The vaccine--there’s Zombie blood in it. Not everyone is going to get vaccinated, but those that do, will be Zombies. Plus, anyone with the flu right now, will get scratched. Major is going to lead a team to do that,” Nessie explained, noting the confused looks. “Oh, right: Major asked Chase to scratch him. He’s a Zombie again. Chase was backed into a corner, and honestly? This is better than letting a bunch of people die.”

“I agree with scratching the dying, but I can’t in good conscious condone the turning people with the vaccine. You know I have to stop that…” Claire said slowly, smiling a little when Nessie nodded.

The two didn’t see eye to eye here, but at least Nessie wasn’t going to stand in her way, and Claire hurried to go and see Johnny. Liv was already there, which meant that she knew too, and she gave Claire a fairly nasty look. What bothered Claire about  _ that _ , was that she totally understood the look and would do the same if the roles were reversed. It helped that Liv softened when she realized that Claire was there to help her stop this, and they both worked together to tell Johnny what it was that he needed to tell everyone in the city.

Seattle was about to change forever, regardless of stopping things now.

“And we’re back,” Johnny told the camera, Liv and Claire nodding at him to continue. “I’m Johnny Frost. Fellow Seattle residents, I have grave news to report. It has come to light that every person who received the Aleutian flu vaccination today is now in the process of becoming A zombie. I can't stress this enough. This is real. This is not a joke. Your future may depend on what you do next.”

Nessie was watching the news, looking up when she heard Chase get out of his chair. He was giving her a look and she knew it all too well, but it was a look she was willing to live with right now because she knew that she had to tell Claire. At the same time, as he called his men and put his uniform back on, she realized that this was a whole new world order and she had to pick a side. If she was going to do this, be with Chase, it meant keeping his secrets and standing by his side no matter what. Did that mean keeping things from Ravi? From Blaine? From  _ Claire _ ? It just might.

“If you have not received an Aleutian flu shot, do not get one,” Johnny continued. “If you do, you too will become a zombie. The first sign you have turned into a zombie will be a craving for human brains. Color will drain from your skin, your hair will begin to turn white. If you have taken the vaccine, also be aware the zombie virus can be transmitted via a scratch, or sexually. Condoms do not prevent the transmission of the virus. Abstinence is the only protection. The most important thing for every Seattleite to remember is this, these people are still your friends, your neighbors, your loved ones. They have simply contracted a virus. Those who have contracted the zombie virus, resist your urges. Help is on the way. Until then, everyone, please stay calm.”

Claire smiled when the phones started ringing. “That was great, Johnny, you were perfect.”

“Every local station has picked up the story,” One of the men tending to the phones explained.

“Good, this is important,” Claire spoke up, smiling when Liv did.

One of the media girls nodded. “We're seeing tweets that people were crushed trying to get out of the vaccination queue, at the 45th Street fire station.”

“Send a crew,” the station manager responded to her.

“Hey, you can't go in there!” Another man exclaimed, Claire and Liv looking up to see Chase coming in with some guards.

“What fresh hell?” Johnny asked, trying to catch himself up to speed.

Claire could tell that Chase was thoroughly disappointed to find her here with Liv, but he didn’t seem surprised in the least that Liv was here. She was always doing things that thwarted his plans, but right now? Right now, they all needed to somehow get on the same page because otherwise Seattle was going to destroy itself. If there wasn’t a way that Zombies and Humans could live in peace together, then they were doomed.

“I should've known,” Chase nodded, looking over at Liv.

The station manager shook his head. “You and your armed men need to leave my stage.”

“You're one of the tribe now, you should welcome me,” Chase responded, Claire chewing on her lip for a moment.

He wasn’t wrong, but at the same time, what they were doing with the vaccines  _ was _ wrong. All these people were being turned without a choice and it just rubbed Claire the wrong way. She and Liv saw this as more of a curse state of being, and a way of life only until a cure was found...so many Zombies found this to be a calling, but at what price? The price of their own humanity? Claire just couldn’t agree, and maybe she shouldn’t be working at Fillmore-Graves.

“Why are you doing this?” Liv asked Chase harshly. “Making more zombies? You want an apocalypse?”

Chase held up a thumb drive. “I have a video here that should explain everything. You're going to run this on air.”

“Sorry, I don't take orders from you,” the station manager explained, but quicker than anyone expected, Chase pulled a gun out and shot him.

He really was a ‘no-nonsense’ kind of man, and clearly whatever video they had put together was important enough to kill over. Claire didn’t like it, and clearly neither did Liv, but Claire stepped in and gave a nod to the social media girl when Chase asked if anyone else took orders. They were going to run this and then figure out what it meant for all of their futures. After all, if anything...Fillmore-Graves was on top now, and they were all going to have to see what exactly that meant.

“I'm Chase Graves, chief operating officer at Fillmore-Graves,” Chase said in the video. “As most of you know, we are a Seattle-based military contracting firm. What most of you don't know is that for the better part of two years, most of our support staff and all of our soldiers have been zombies. Some would say that's the bad news. I don't see it that way, though we understand that this new reality may test the bonds of some romantic relationships. Unfortunately, intimate contact between humans and zombies is impossible without infecting the human partner. We welcome new zombies, but that should be a conversation between consenting adults,” he explained, Claire nodding as she and Liv watched the video.

The only thing about all of this that had bothered Claire before, was the fact that were actually people out there that infected people  _ purposefully _ because they still wanted to get off. Blaine had even done it, and now that there were probably obviously people that had gotten the vaccine and some that hadn’t, that were together, it was going to be an issue. Claire just hoped, that it would also help in the long run, to have people supporting each other because they knew that their loved ones understood that they still needed to be helped...or at least supported and protected.

“On a positive note, by the end of the day tomorrow, the Aleutian flu will be eradicated,” Chase continued, Claire knowing that that was what Nessie had said about Major leading a team to go and scratch those dying from the virus right now. “Your loved ones who were facing a long and painful demise will be saved...and no disease will ever threaten them again. I suspect the number one question on everyone's mind is, ‘where will zombies get the brains they need to survive?’ Rest assured. There are no plans to harvest brains from the living. Rather, our brains will come to us from across America. The brains, supplied to us by willing donors upon their deaths, will be processed and distributed to Seattle's zombie population. But here's the promise we're making to the rest of the country. Provide us the brains that we need to survive, and Seattle is where we'll stay.”

For a moment, both Liv and Claire were both confused, but it seemed that this was certainly not a world domination thing. Chase seemed perfectly okay with just staying in Seattle, which was basically like a Zombie Island idea, but perhaps a little bit safer. This way, any nuking would also cause a threat to nearby areas, it wouldn’t just be some island that no one cared about. Smart idea, but also it really did make Claire wonder how they would survive with just being here in Seattle...would that really work? 

“In the United States, 7,000 people die every day. If just one person in 10 donates his brain, we will have enough that we won't need to look elsewhere. Should zombies go hungry, however, it's anybody's guess where they might turn.” Chase admitted, and Claire knew it wasn’t a threat...but a fact. “Remember, a well-fed zombie is a happy zombie, and our genuine hope is that Seattle will be a city filled with happy zombies. Going to PTA meetings, bringing orange slices to kids' soccer matches, making noise at Seahawks games. Of course, the human citizens of Seattle are free to leave. But we hope that you will stay and live in harmony, with your new zombie neighbors. Zombies are not monsters. The last thing we want to do is harm our human brothers and sisters. We are all in this together. Let’s show the world there’s no need to fear the other.”

Liv seemed glad that he added that because it meant that Chase was honestly trying to not have this be all out war, but this wasn’t going to start off okay. After everything they’d been through with Harley, and with everyone willing to out their zombie neighbors and murder them, it was anyone’s guess how this would start. Fillmore-Graves might do their best at not at all attacking excepting in self defense, but the humans wouldn’t be so cool about it all. Their whole world had just changed too, and now they were basically in the middle of some weird Zombie movie...this was going to start off with bloodshed, and would it end? It was anyone’s guess.

“While Seattle will be under zombie control, most of you living here will experience very little change. The established infrastructure will continue to function, its city government, its schools, firehouses, police department, with a special zombie police force and criminal justice system to handle crimes involving zombies. Thank you for listening. Continue watching for a list of locations where brains can be procured.” Chase concluded, and the end of the broadcast ended with a screen of scrolling places for Zombies to go, to get brains.

Liv looked directly at Chase. “So that's your plan? Holding the country hostage for its brains?”

“The brains of their dead, but yes,” Chase admitted to her.

“So, the Aleutian flu was never about harvesting brains. It was about getting as many people turned into zombies as possible,” Liv accused him.

“You can stop judging me now,” Chase snapped at her, shaking his head. “I didn't put this plan into action. I suppose I could've let everyone with the Aleutian flu die. I wish I had the luxury of hoping we could all just get along.”

Liv took a breath, knowing she couldn’t really argue there, but Chase nodded and turned with his four men and left, heading back to Fillmore-Graves. Nessie was waiting for him, and moved out of his chair, Chase sitting down and welcoming her on his lap. A tender kiss was placed to his lips, and for a moment he was content with just being right here in this moment, but he chuckled a little when her hips rolled.

“Right here? There is no proper door,” he whispered against her lips, groaning when she tugged at his lip with his teeth. “ _ Nessa _ …” There was another roll of her hips, but Major also walked in, laughing a little bit and shaking his head, making Chase clear his throat. “Major...I take it things went well?”

Major nodded slowly. “Yeah...as well as they could.”

xxxxx

Claire got to the Morgue later than she wanted to in the morning, but she understood--especially when she saw Liv late too. Liv was back to the white hair and pale skin look, but Claire had always loved her blonde hair, and was going to continue to tan and dye...at least for now. There was nothing that she longed for more, than to be human again, and this was how she clung to it. She understood why Liv had taken to the Zombie look, however...because it was who she was now, and Claire respected that.

The focus right now was on  _ Ravi _ .

Not that Claire minded that, of course, because mostly all she could  _ think about _ was Ravi Chakrabarti. They had been thrown together a couple of times, and she worried about him and his wellbeing, and it sucked, that there was this Zombie thing in between them because Claire wasn’t all that enthused about being a Zombie. She certainly didn’t hate it, but, there were things about it that she could really live without.

“What's it like out there for someone rocking the old-school zombie look?” Ravi asked Liv as he noticed she wasn’t looking ‘human’ anymore.

“Lots of moving trucks heading out of the city, and it seemed like every driver only slowed down long enough to flip me the bird,” Liv answered with a shrug. “How's it going here? You look like you haven't slept.”

Ravi held up what he was working on. “Ta-da!”

“You invented the sugar cube,” Liv said slowly.

“I harvested just enough tainted Utopium to try something Nessie and I have been tinkering with ever since I lied to the zombie truthers about this,” Ravi admitted. “That, my friend, is a vaccine for zombie-ism.”

Suddenly, Claire and Liv were both alert, but Liv spoke up first. “No freaking way! You did it?”

“Oh, I don't know. Maybe,” Ravi answered. “I think. I dunno. Who knows? If my math was right.  Let's see how it goes.”

With that, Ravi shoved the ‘sugar cube’ into his mouth and started chewing on it, both Liv and Claire taking a step closer to him. There was still a lot to discuss, like seeing if Nessie was fully back in this with them or not, or being considered dead to them because she was working with Fillmore-Graves, but now, also, Ravi was becoming his own guinea pig. That worried the two blondes here in the room with him, but Claire also understood...Nessie would too.

“How're you gonna know if it works?” Claire asked him.

Ravi nodded slowly. “I'm glad you asked.”

“What? Why?” Liv asked him, and then saw him give her a look...and it all sunk in. “No. Ravi. I don't want to be responsible if it doesn't work.”

“You won't be,” he promised her. “I'm asking you to do this.”

“Ask Major,” Liv told him, shaking her head. “Hell, ask Nessie. She’s a fellow scientist who would probably gladly help you do this.”

“Liv, don’t,” Claire told her, catching the tone in her voice. “She might be with Chase, but she still has a soul. I also...don’t want it to be...like I’m excited or anything about this potential turning, but uh...Liv doesn’t have to scratch you…”

“That’s right!” Liv exclaimed, pointing to Claire. “She can scratch you.”

Claire blushed a little. “I wasn’t...talking about... _ scratching _ …”

She tilted her head a little to the side, aware suddenly that Liv had no idea that she and Ravi had feelings for each other, or that they kissed, but Liv made a face as Ravi snapped and pointed at her. He hadn’t even thought about that, which was actually kind of romantic as far as Claire was concerned, because he wasn’t using this as an excuse to sleep with her. If anything, Claire was the one using this situation to her advantage.

“What?” Liv asked them.

Ravi ignored her and looked Claire in the eye. “I mean...are you sure?”

“I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t sure, Ravi. Besides, if you don’t like it, then we can just say we did it in the name of science,” Claire offered him.

“Of course I’m going to like it,” Ravi told her, looking at Liv when she made a gagging sound.

“I’ve missed something…” Liv said slowly.

Claire nodded, laughing a little bit. “It’s been a little while coming, but yeah. We kissed and then...I dunno...I’m a Zombie...but now, I mean...it’s just as potent a way to turn someone…”

“If you are game, I am game,” Ravi responded quickly, making Liv smile a little as Claire laughed.

She might not have noticed before that they were into each other, but she was definitely alright that they were. Maybe she hadn’t been at first, but Claire had proven that she was on Liv’s side through it all, and she liked that she had that moral compass on her. So why not let her and Ravi have this moment together? It would open up them having many, many more, and that was good, right? Ravi deserved some love after screwing up so royally with Peyton.

“I will leave you two, to it then,” Liv told them. “Just...are you sure?”

Ravi nodded slowly at her. “I am sure. Even if I wasn’t, it is way too late now for me to change my mind, because I already ate it.”

“Then let’s go to my place,” Claire spoke up, giving Ravi a smile. “Come on, this might be time sensitive and I’m not gonna lie, I’m very much over this dry spell.”


End file.
